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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. ground — a position
  3. squash — the sport
  4. march — music
  5. ground — crushed
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. cell — a phone
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. ground — the earth
  11. squash — to crush
  12. kid — to tease
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. cell — in biology
  15. march — the month
  16. chest — of your body
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. march — the month

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