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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: rest · bat · pitcher · hand · wave · chest · pound · net

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. chest — a box
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. hand — in cards
  6. rest — what's left
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. pound — a weight
  10. net — after costs
  11. rest — what's left
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. net — for catching
  17. bat — the animal
  18. net — in sport
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. rest — a break
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

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