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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. mark — a grade
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. rash — a series
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. rash — hasty
  17. cell — in biology
  18. mark — a trace

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