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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 · bat · racket · patient · chip · stem · pit · coach

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pit — a hole
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. stem — to come from
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. chest — of your body
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. chip — to eat
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. chest — a box
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. chip — for betting
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. pit — in a race
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. bat — in an idiom

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