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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. degree — from a university
  4. field — a subject
  5. degree — temperature
  6. chest — of your body
  7. mate — to breed
  8. chest — of your body
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. field — farmland
  11. vault — a safe
  12. cell — in biology
  13. mate — a friend
  14. mate — a partner
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. chest — a box
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. cell — a phone
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. field — for sport
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. degree — an amount

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