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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 116 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 blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. bass — low music
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. bass — the fish
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. saw — the tool
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. saw — the tool
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. cell — a phone
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bat — the animal
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. mine — for digging
  21. pound — a weight
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. cell — in biology

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