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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bore — to tire
  4. cell — a phone
  5. land — a country
  6. cell — in biology
  7. wound — an injury
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. land — ground
  10. stem — to come from
  11. cap — a lid
  12. cap — of ice
  13. spell — letters
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. spell — magic
  18. cap — a hat
  19. spell — a short time
  20. bat — the animal
  21. land — to come down
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. bore — to drill

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