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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 120 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — a phone
  7. club — for golf
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. hand — help
  10. season — of the year
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. club — for dancing
  13. lean — to bend
  14. season — in sport
  15. club — a group
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lean — thin
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bore — to tire
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. hand — in cards
  24. bore — gave birth

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