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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. rule — a law
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cell — a phone
  5. current — electric
  6. kid — child
  7. cell — in biology
  8. march — music
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. current — of water
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. fork — in a road
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. rule — government
  21. current — happening now
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. bat — for baseball

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