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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — in biology
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. sharp — clever
  5. kid — child
  6. row — a line
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. row — to paddle
  9. file — a document
  10. cell — a phone
  11. object — an aim
  12. object — to protest
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. object — a thing
  15. kid — to tease
  16. bear — the animal
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. wind — moving air
  19. file — a line of people
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. wind — moving air
  23. file — a tool
  24. bear — 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