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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: bat · rush · last · chest · bore · content · hide · key

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — the animal
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. rush — hurry
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. bore — to tire
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. key — the most important part
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. key — in music
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. chest — of your body
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. content — happy
  19. key — for a lock
  20. content — the amount
  21. last — to go on
  22. last — final
  23. last — finally
  24. bore — to drill

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