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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. chest — a box
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. file — a line of people
  6. mark — a grade
  7. cell — a phone
  8. file — a document
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cell — in biology
  13. field — a subject
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. file — a tool
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. face — to confront
  18. field — farmland
  19. face — to point toward
  20. field — for sport
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. face — part of the head
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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