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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. cell — a phone
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. bat — the animal
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. rash — a series
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. pound — a weight
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. tear — to rip
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. pitch — completely
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. tear — from crying
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. cell — in biology
  23. rash — hasty
  24. cell — in a prison

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