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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  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. land — to come down
  2. cell — in biology
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. cell — a phone
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. chip — to eat
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. land — ground
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bark — to shout
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. chip — for betting
  23. land — a country
  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