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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 124 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cell — in biology
  5. pop — music
  6. squash — the sport
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rock — music
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. tube — a container
  11. pop — to visit
  12. tube — the underground
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. chest — a box
  17. squash — to crush
  18. wax — to grow
  19. pop — soda
  20. rock — a stone
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. rock — to move gently

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