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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. cap — a hat
  4. rash — hasty
  5. spring — a coil
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. face — part of the head
  10. cell — in biology
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. cap — of ice
  14. spring — of water
  15. face — to point toward
  16. cap — a lid
  17. march — the month
  18. dip — to sink
  19. face — to confront
  20. march — the month
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. rash — a series
  23. march — music
  24. spring — the season

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