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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: cold · bat · calf · chest · swing · fall · ground · mouse

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. swing — in golf
  4. chest — a box
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. ground — crushed
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. swing — music
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. chest — of your body
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bat — the animal
  16. fall — to drop
  17. chest — of your body
  18. cold — not warm
  19. ground — a position
  20. cold — an illness
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fall — the season
  24. ground — the earth

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