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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 124 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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. staff — employees
  3. bat — the animal
  4. net — after costs
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. staff — employees
  7. net — for catching
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. cell — a phone
  10. spring — the season
  11. march — the month
  12. cell — in biology
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. staff — a stick
  19. spring — of water
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. march — music
  22. spring — a coil
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. march — the month

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