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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — a phone
  3. wind — moving air
  4. capital — money
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. cell — in biology
  11. sharp — clever
  12. rock — music
  13. fork — in a road
  14. track — a song
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. track — to keep track
  17. track — a path
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. capital — a city
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — the animal
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. rock — a stone

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