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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  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. bear — to put up with
  2. cell — a phone
  3. bear — the animal
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. bat — the animal
  7. game — a match
  8. dip — to sink
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pitch — completely
  14. game — wild animals
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — child
  18. bear — the animal
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. bat — in an idiom
  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