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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. root — of a word
  3. chest — a box
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. drill — the tool
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cell — in biology
  9. root — the cause
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. chest — of your body
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. craft — boats
  14. drill — a practice
  15. bat — the animal
  16. drill — army training
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. cell — a phone
  20. craft — a skill
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. root — of a plant
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. craft — a handicraft

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