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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. face — to point toward
  3. tube — the underground
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. face — part of the head
  6. bound — obliged
  7. file — a line of people
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. face — to confront
  12. file — a tool
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. file — a document
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. tube — a container
  17. bound — certain
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. branch — a division
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — to come from
  24. bound — tied together

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