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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: bay · chest · pop · foot · club · bat · march · kid

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pop — soda
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. bat — the animal
  6. club — for dancing
  7. club — for golf
  8. march — the month
  9. chest — a box
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. pop — music
  12. foot — a measure
  13. march — music
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. club — a group
  16. kid — to tease
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. kid — child
  19. chest — of your body
  20. pop — to visit
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. march — the month
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. foot — part of the 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