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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. rest — a break
  3. race — the arms race
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. chest — a box
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — in biology
  8. land — to come down
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. chest — of your body
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hand — help
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. kid — to tease
  16. land — a country
  17. kid — child
  18. chest — of your body
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. rest — what's left
  21. land — ground
  22. race — humankind
  23. rest — what's left
  24. race — a contest

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