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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: club · season · tear · bat · racket · mouse · chest · last

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. chest — of your body
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. tear — to rip
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. last — final
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. club — a group
  12. tear — from crying
  13. bat — the animal
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. club — for dancing
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. last — finally
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. last — to go on
  20. club — for golf
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — a box
  23. tear — from crying
  24. season — in sport

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