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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. cell — a phone
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. track — a path
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. hand — help
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. rush — hurry
  12. hand — in cards
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. track — to keep track
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. bat — the animal
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — in biology
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. temple — a place of worship

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