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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cap — a hat
  4. chest — of your body
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. cell — a phone
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. race — humankind
  9. fall — to drop
  10. chest — of your body
  11. race — the arms race
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. cap — a lid
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. chest — a box
  17. fall — to drop
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. fork — in a road
  20. lie — to recline
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. race — a contest
  23. cap — of ice
  24. cell — in biology

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