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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: track · bat · hand · cold · roll · perch · firm · chest

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. hand — in cards
  3. perch — the fish
  4. track — a path
  5. hand — help
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. bat — the animal
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. roll — a cake
  11. firm — steady
  12. chest — a box
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. track — to keep track
  16. firm — a company
  17. track — a song
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. firm — decided
  22. roll — a list
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bat — for baseball

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