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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 took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. kick — in football
  3. bound — certain
  4. bound — tied together
  5. cap — of ice
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. cell — in biology
  8. season — in sport
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cell — a phone
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. season — of the year
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. net — in sport
  20. cap — a lid
  21. net — after costs
  22. bound — obliged
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cap — a hat

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