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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: kick · ground · content · bay · present · chest · bat · straw

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. ground — the earth
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. present — a gift
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. ground — a position
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. present — the time now
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. content — happy
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. ground — crushed
  18. content — the amount
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. bat — the animal
  21. kick — in football
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. present — there

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