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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. fall — the season
  3. cell — a phone
  4. mate — a friend
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. can — a tin
  8. stem — to come from
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — to drop
  12. can — to be able to
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. chair — a leader
  15. can — a tin
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. mate — to breed
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cell — in biology
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. stem — of a plant

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