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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — a phone
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. sharp — clever
  6. bat — the animal
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. perch — the fish
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — to grow
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wake — a trail

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