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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. squash — the sport
  3. row — a line
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. dip — to sink
  6. pop — to visit
  7. pop — music
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. mark — a grade
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. pop — soda
  12. squash — to crush
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. cell — a phone
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cell — in biology
  24. mark — a trace

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