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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 116 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. cap — a hat
  3. face — part of the head
  4. cell — a phone
  5. bat — the animal
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. swing — music
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. face — to point toward
  12. cap — of ice
  13. swing — to play on
  14. face — to confront
  15. swing — in golf
  16. cell — in biology
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. chair — a leader
  21. cap — a lid
  22. bore — to drill
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. bore — to tire

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