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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: bat · season · chest · swing · race · arm · ball · lie

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. chest — a box
  4. ball — a dance
  5. swing — in golf
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. swing — to play on
  9. race — the arms race
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bat — the animal
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. season — in sport
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. chest — of your body
  16. race — humankind
  17. race — a contest
  18. swing — music
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. season — of the year
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. ball — a great time
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. lie — to recline

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