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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. track — a song
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. bat — the animal
  5. pound — a weight
  6. swing — music
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. cold — not warm
  10. swing — in golf
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. tube — the underground
  13. track — a path
  14. tube — a container
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. swing — to play on
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. track — to keep track
  22. stand — to bear
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — a phone

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