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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. content — the amount
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. cell — a phone
  7. fall — to drop
  8. content — happy
  9. cap — a lid
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. branch — a division
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cap — of ice
  15. fall — to drop
  16. race — a contest
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. race — the arms race
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. cell — in biology
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. race — humankind
  24. branch — of a tree

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