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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. land — to come down
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. ground — crushed
  8. ground — the earth
  9. land — a country
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. snap — to click
  13. cell — a phone
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. rule — a law
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. land — ground
  18. bat — the animal
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. rule — government
  23. cell — in biology
  24. mouse — the animal

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