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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. bound — certain
  5. mug — a cup
  6. club — for dancing
  7. mug — a face
  8. capital — money
  9. club — a group
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. capital — a city
  13. kick — in football
  14. bound — tied together
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. last — final
  17. club — for golf
  18. last — to go on
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. mug — to rob
  21. cell — in biology
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bound — obliged
  24. last — finally

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