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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 120 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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. face — to confront
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. chest — a box
  7. face — to point toward
  8. hand — in cards
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. saw — the tool
  11. chest — of your body
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. degree — from a university
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. degree — temperature
  16. hand — help
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. cell — in biology
  19. chest — of your body
  20. saw — the tool
  21. degree — an amount
  22. cell — a phone
  23. face — part of the head
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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