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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cell — a phone
  3. rest — a break
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rest — what's left
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cold — an illness
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. lie — to recline
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. bat — the animal
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. court — of a king
  17. court — of law
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. rest — what's left
  24. court — for 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