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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. land — a country
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. row — to paddle
  5. land — ground
  6. land — to come down
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. row — a line
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in biology
  16. kid — to tease
  17. rash — a series
  18. rash — hasty

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