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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. snap — to click
  3. ball — a great time
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. branch — a division
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. march — music
  10. season — of the year
  11. rest — a break
  12. cell — in biology
  13. march — the month
  14. season — in sport
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. ball — a dance
  17. rest — what's left
  18. game — a match
  19. march — the month
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. rest — what's left
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. cell — a phone
  24. game — wild animals

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