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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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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. pop — music
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. pop — soda
  6. cell — in biology
  7. tube — the underground
  8. foot — a measure
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. cell — a phone
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — for digging
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. pop — to visit
  17. tube — a container
  18. foot — part of the body

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