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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. season — of the year
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. swing — music
  9. season — in sport
  10. swing — in golf
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bat — the animal
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. row — a line
  17. stem — to come from
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. cold — an illness
  24. swing — to play on

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