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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. row — a line
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. drill — army training
  5. drill — the tool
  6. cap — a lid
  7. chest — a box
  8. hand — in cards
  9. cap — of ice
  10. hand — help
  11. drill — a practice
  12. track — to keep track
  13. cap — a hat
  14. rule — a law
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. rule — government
  17. track — a path
  18. chest — of your body
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. row — to paddle
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. track — a song
  24. cell — in biology

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