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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mate — a partner
  5. cell — a phone
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — in biology
  10. squash — the sport
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. squash — to crush
  17. mate — a friend
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. mate — to breed
  21. prune — to trim
  22. fine — high quality
  23. bat — the animal
  24. prune — to trim

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