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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  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. mine — belonging to me
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. mark — a trace
  5. sharp — clever
  6. chest — of your body
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. mine — for digging
  14. chest — a box
  15. cell — a phone
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. chest — of your body
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. mark — a grade
  23. lie — to recline
  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