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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 116 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. shower — to wash
  3. tear — to rip
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. cell — in biology
  6. net — for catching
  7. press — newspapers
  8. ball — a great time
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. ball — a dance
  11. shower — rain
  12. tear — from crying
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. net — in sport
  16. press — a publisher
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. press — to push
  19. hand — help
  20. tear — from crying
  21. net — after costs
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bat — the animal
  24. cell — a phone

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