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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. swing — in golf
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. lie — to recline
  6. cell — a phone
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. swing — to play on
  9. swing — music
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. cell — in biology
  13. row — to paddle
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. stem — to come from
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. row — a line
  18. bat — the animal
  19. last — final
  20. last — to go on
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. wake — a trail

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