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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  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. foot — a measure
  2. rash — hasty
  3. bat — the animal
  4. swing — music
  5. plane — a tool
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. swing — to play on
  9. swing — in golf
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. cell — a phone
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. branch — a division
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. rash — a series
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. plane — in geometry
  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