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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 116 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. kid — child
  3. mark — a trace
  4. kid — to tease
  5. fork — in a road
  6. bat — the animal
  7. cell — in biology
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. tear — from crying
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. fall — the season
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. mark — a grade
  17. fall — to drop
  18. staff — a stick
  19. tear — from crying
  20. fall — to drop
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — employees
  24. tear — to rip

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