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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 124 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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. spring — the season
  4. lie — to recline
  5. row — a line
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. pit — in a race
  8. row — to paddle
  9. mark — a grade
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. pit — a hole
  12. bat — the animal
  13. march — the month
  14. march — the month
  15. march — music
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. cell — a phone
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cell — in biology
  22. spring — of water
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. row — a quarrel

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