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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 blown up by a land ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. cell — a phone
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. cell — in biology
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. kid — to tease
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. vault — a safe
  18. dip — to sink
  19. bat — the animal
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. kid — child
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. bat — in an idiom

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