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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 116 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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. club — for dancing
  3. ball — a dance
  4. shower — to wash
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. ball — a great time
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cold — not warm
  9. shower — rain
  10. perch — the fish
  11. pitch — completely
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. cell — in biology
  17. lie — to recline
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. club — for golf
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. club — a group
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. cold — an illness
  24. ball — a round shape

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