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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. key — for a lock
  3. last — to go on
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rest — what's left
  9. file — a line of people
  10. key — the most important part
  11. file — a tool
  12. last — final
  13. rest — what's left
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chest — a box
  17. rest — a break
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — an injury
  20. file — a document
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. last — finally
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. key — in music

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