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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: fine · track · cold · game · arm · bear · chest · bat

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. game — wild animals
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bat — the animal
  7. chest — a box
  8. track — a song
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bear — the animal
  12. track — a path
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fine — high quality
  16. bear — the animal
  17. cold — an illness
  18. track — to keep track
  19. chest — of your body
  20. fine — all right
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. bear — to put up with

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