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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cell — a phone
  4. game — a match
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bass — the fish
  8. tear — from crying
  9. staff — employees
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. staff — a stick
  12. bass — low music
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. fork — in a road
  16. game — wild animals
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. staff — employees
  19. tear — to rip
  20. rule — government
  21. rule — a law
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. cell — in biology
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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