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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. branch — a division
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. wound — an injury
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. drill — a practice
  10. drill — the tool
  11. row — a line
  12. dip — to sink
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. wound — an injury
  16. row — to paddle
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. drill — army training
  19. cell — in biology
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. row — a quarrel

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