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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 refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  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. mug — a cup
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. cell — a phone
  5. pop — to visit
  6. pop — soda
  7. lean — thin
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. mine — for digging
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. stem — to come from
  12. lean — to bend
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. game — wild animals
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mug — a face
  17. pop — music
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. mug — to rob
  20. game — a match
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. hide — to keep secret
  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