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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: chest · hand · arm · deal · racket · field · pitch · squash

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. hand — in cards
  4. pitch — completely
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. deal — to handle
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. hand — help
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. squash — to crush
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — a subject
  21. chest — a box
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. field — for sport
  24. squash — the sport

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