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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 120 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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Word bank
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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: tear · bat · chest · rush · arm · leaves · last · key

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. tear — from crying
  3. last — finally
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. key — for a lock
  6. tear — from crying
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. key — the most important part
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. key — in music
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. rush — hurry
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. chest — a box
  19. last — final
  20. tear — to rip
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. last — to go on
  24. bat — for baseball

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