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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. bound — obliged
  3. face — to point toward
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. face — part of the head
  9. perch — the fish
  10. row — to paddle
  11. face — to confront
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. bat — the animal
  16. hand — help
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. hand — in cards
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. bound — certain
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. cell — in biology
  24. row — a line

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