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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. wound — an injury
  3. net — after costs
  4. club — a group
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. net — in sport
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. prune — to trim
  11. net — for catching
  12. bat — the animal
  13. cell — in biology
  14. club — for golf
  15. prune — to trim
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. club — for dancing
  18. spell — letters
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. spell — magic
  21. dip — to sink
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. wound — an injury
  24. spell — a short time

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