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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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. swing — to play on
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. swing — music
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. cell — in biology
  9. kick — in football
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. date — the fruit
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. prune — to trim
  17. mine — for digging
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. prune — to trim
  20. fall — to drop
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. wind — moving air
  23. swing — in golf
  24. mine — an explosive

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