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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. cap — a hat
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. bass — low music
  7. cap — a lid
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. field — farmland
  10. land — to come down
  11. spring — a coil
  12. field — for sport
  13. cell — in biology
  14. spring — the season
  15. field — a subject
  16. bound — certain
  17. spring — of water
  18. bass — the fish
  19. land — a country
  20. land — ground
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. cap — of ice
  23. bound — tied together
  24. bound — obliged

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