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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bat · pitch · bore · chest · cap · hide · kid · rest

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. kid — child
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cap — a lid
  7. chest — a box
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cap — a hat
  15. kid — to tease
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bore — to drill
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — a break
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bore — to tire
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. pitch — completely

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com