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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 116 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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — in biology
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. game — wild animals
  5. bear — the animal
  6. row — a line
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. cell — a phone
  10. row — to paddle
  11. bear — the animal
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. game — a match
  18. trunk — of an elephant

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