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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. drill — army training
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rock — music
  8. root — of a word
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pitch — completely
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. rock — a stone
  14. drill — the tool
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. drill — a practice
  18. root — the cause
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. root — of a plant
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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