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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. file — a document
  3. season — of the year
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. bat — the animal
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. cell — a phone
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. season — in sport
  13. cue — a signal
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. cue — a hint
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. file — a tool
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. cue — for pool
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. file — a line of people
  24. cell — in biology

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