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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. club — for golf
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. land — to come down
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. vault — a safe
  7. land — ground
  8. land — a country
  9. row — a line
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. row — to paddle
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bound — certain
  14. bound — tied together
  15. cell — a phone
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. bound — obliged
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. cold — not warm
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. club — for dancing
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. club — a group
  24. trunk — of a car

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