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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mark — a grade
  6. cell — in biology
  7. bat — the animal
  8. object — an aim
  9. capital — money
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cell — a phone
  12. capital — a city
  13. mine — for digging
  14. object — a thing
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. mark — a trace
  22. object — to protest
  23. saw — the tool
  24. cold — not warm

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