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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. cold — an illness
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cell — a phone
  6. kid — child
  7. cell — in biology
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. can — a tin
  10. land — to come down
  11. kid — to tease
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. can — a tin
  14. can — to be able to
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. cold — not warm
  21. land — a country
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. land — ground

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