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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: present · chest · bat · hand · fan · roll · bound · face

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. present — there
  3. present — a gift
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — help
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. roll — a list
  9. present — the time now
  10. chest — a box
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. chest — of your body
  13. face — to point toward
  14. face — to confront
  15. roll — a cake
  16. face — part of the head
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bound — certain
  19. bound — obliged
  20. chest — of your body
  21. hand — in cards
  22. bound — tied together
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. bat — the animal

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