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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. shower — to wash
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. shower — rain
  7. mine — for digging
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. cold — an illness
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. land — ground
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. dip — to sink
  17. land — to come down
  18. cell — a phone
  19. land — a country
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. cold — not warm
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. cell — in biology

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