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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: cue · shower · chest · bound · pit · stick · ground · bat

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cue — a signal
  8. ground — the earth
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bound — obliged
  11. cue — for pool
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. ground — crushed
  14. pit — in a race
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. shower — rain
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. bound — certain
  21. pit — a hole
  22. shower — to wash
  23. ground — a position
  24. chest — a box

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