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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: chest · bat · hand · ball · roll · bear · current · tear

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. hand — help
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. ball — a great time
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bat — the animal
  13. tear — from crying
  14. current — electric
  15. tear — from crying
  16. current — of water
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. tear — to rip
  19. roll — a list
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. roll — a cake
  22. hand — in cards
  23. ball — a dance
  24. chest — of your body

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