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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: date · bat · swing · toast · bulb · cell · stand · chest

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. chest — of your body
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. chest — a box
  5. date — the fruit
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cell — a phone
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. stand — to bear
  11. bat — the animal
  12. chest — of your body
  13. swing — in golf
  14. swing — to play on
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bulb — for light
  17. swing — music
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. bulb — for light
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. toast — the most admired

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