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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. cell — in biology
  6. present — a gift
  7. lie — to recline
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cell — a phone
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. present — the time now
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tear — from crying
  15. present — there
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. tube — a container
  19. rock — music
  20. season — in sport
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. tear — to rip
  23. rock — a stone
  24. bat — the animal

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