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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. wound — an injury
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. pit — a hole
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. cell — a phone
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. game — a match
  10. cell — in biology
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. game — wild animals
  13. chest — of your body
  14. club — for dancing
  15. toast — bread
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. row — a line
  18. chest — of your body
  19. row — to paddle
  20. club — a group
  21. pit — in a race
  22. wound — an injury
  23. club — for golf
  24. chest — a box

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