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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. cell — a phone
  3. snap — to click
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. present — a gift
  6. season — in sport
  7. cell — in biology
  8. race — the arms race
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. march — the month
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. present — there
  14. race — a contest
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. race — humankind
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. bat — the animal
  21. season — of the year
  22. present — the time now
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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