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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. land — to come down
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. saw — the tool
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. club — for dancing
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. cap — of ice
  10. land — a country
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cap — a hat
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. cap — a lid
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. land — ground
  17. club — for golf
  18. file — a document
  19. saw — the tool
  20. file — a tool
  21. cell — in biology
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. file — a line of people
  24. club — a group

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