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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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. cell — a phone
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. branch — a division
  5. cap — a hat
  6. wound — an injury
  7. last — finally
  8. wound — an injury
  9. cap — a lid
  10. spring — the season
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. cell — in biology
  13. spring — a coil
  14. last — to go on
  15. last — final
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. vault — a safe
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. spring — of water
  24. cap — of ice

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