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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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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: straw · racket · staff · chest · hand · bat · deal · cap

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — the animal
  3. chest — of your body
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. hand — help
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. staff — employees
  11. cap — of ice
  12. deal — to handle
  13. chest — of your body
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — in cards
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. chest — a box
  18. staff — employees
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cap — a lid
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. staff — a stick

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