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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. last — final
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. cell — a phone
  5. last — to go on
  6. tube — a container
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. land — a country
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. hand — help
  12. last — finally
  13. hand — in cards
  14. land — ground
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. present — there
  17. mark — a grade
  18. present — the time now
  19. land — to come down
  20. mark — a trace
  21. cold — an illness
  22. tube — the underground
  23. cold — not warm
  24. present — a gift

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