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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. cell — in biology
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bass — the fish
  5. cell — a phone
  6. land — to come down
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bat — the animal
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. mate — a friend
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. bass — low music
  16. land — a country
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. land — ground
  20. mate — a partner
  21. mate — to breed
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. lie — to recline
  24. lie — an untruth

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