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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 120 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: chest · calf · wake · fall · ground · saw · racket · bat

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. chest — of your body
  3. saw — the tool
  4. wake — a trail
  5. saw — the tool
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bat — the animal
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. ground — the earth
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. chest — of your body
  20. fall — the season
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. chest — a box
  24. racket — for tennis

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