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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. race — the arms race
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — in biology
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. fall — to drop
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. capital — a city
  15. fall — to drop
  16. kid — child
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. wind — moving air
  20. capital — money
  21. race — humankind
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. fall — the season
  24. race — a contest

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