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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 116 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 ________________ went through the wall.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. rash — hasty
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. degree — temperature
  6. pit — a hole
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cell — a phone
  11. pit — in a race
  12. face — part of the head
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. rash — a series
  15. face — to confront
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. face — to point toward
  18. degree — an amount
  19. squash — to crush
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. bat — the animal
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cell — in biology
  24. squash — the sport

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