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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cell — a phone
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. field — for sport
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. hand — help
  13. field — a subject
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. cell — in biology
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. wake — a trail
  21. shower — rain
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. field — farmland
  24. foot — a measure

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