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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. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. foot — a measure
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — what's left
  7. clip — for paper
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. rest — a break
  10. fall — to drop
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. clip — a video
  13. cell — in biology
  14. fall — the season
  15. field — farmland
  16. press — newspapers
  17. fall — to drop
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. press — a publisher
  20. field — a subject
  21. clip — to cut
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. press — to push
  24. field — 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