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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: chest · patient · perch · bat · trunk · pass · leaves · court

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pass — a permit
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. court — of a king
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. chest — a box
  16. bat — the animal
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. court — of law
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. perch — the fish
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. court — for sport
  24. chest — of your body

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