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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. club — for golf
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. wound — an injury
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. stem — to come from
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. face — to confront
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. cell — a phone
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. club — a group
  15. face — to point toward
  16. staff — employees
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. staff — a stick
  19. cell — in biology
  20. club — for dancing
  21. wound — an injury
  22. rest — what's left
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. face — part of the head

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