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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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Word bank
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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. degree — an amount
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. kid — to tease
  8. march — music
  9. drill — the tool
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. degree — temperature
  14. drill — army training
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. degree — from a university
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. drill — a practice
  19. march — the month
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. cell — in biology
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. march — the month

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