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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. shower — rain
  4. lie — to recline
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. degree — an amount
  7. shower — to wash
  8. hand — in cards
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. hand — help
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. cell — a phone
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. degree — from a university
  15. scale — size or range
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. cell — in biology
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. scale — in music
  24. degree — temperature

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