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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. ground — a position
  3. tear — from crying
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. rest — a break
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. rest — what's left
  8. tear — from crying
  9. ground — the earth
  10. rest — what's left
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. bat — the animal
  14. pound — a weight
  15. cold — an illness
  16. tear — to rip
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. ground — crushed
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cell — a phone

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