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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. cold — an illness
  4. can — a tin
  5. can — a tin
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bound — certain
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. spell — a short time
  11. bound — tied together
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bound — obliged
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. cell — in biology
  18. spell — magic
  19. can — to be able to
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. perch — the fish
  22. cold — not warm
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. spell — letters

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