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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 was locked up in a ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. chest — of your body
  3. ball — a great time
  4. cell — in biology
  5. chest — of your body
  6. last — finally
  7. last — to go on
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. spring — a coil
  10. chest — a box
  11. cell — a phone
  12. season — of the year
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. spring — of water
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. fork — in a road
  20. last — final
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. season — in sport
  23. spring — the season
  24. ball — a dance

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