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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 116 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. cell — in biology
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. prune — to trim
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. deal — to handle
  12. field — a subject
  13. shower — rain
  14. field — for sport
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. field — farmland
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. calf — a young animal

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