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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — a phone
  3. board — a committee
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. rush — hurry
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. spell — a short time
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. spell — letters
  11. branch — a division
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. spell — magic
  15. board — to get on
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. season — of the year
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. cell — in biology
  22. bat — the animal
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. season — in sport

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