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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — in biology
  3. drill — a practice
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. ground — the earth
  6. drill — army training
  7. hand — in cards
  8. march — the month
  9. ground — crushed
  10. hand — help
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. dip — to sink
  13. ground — a position
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. drill — the tool
  16. cell — a phone
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. row — a line
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. row — to paddle
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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