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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — child
  4. cell — in biology
  5. vault — a safe
  6. last — final
  7. last — to go on
  8. saw — the tool
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. march — music
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bat — the animal
  13. march — the month
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. last — finally
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. march — the month
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. bat — for baseball

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