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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. drill — the tool
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. net — after costs
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cell — a phone
  9. net — in sport
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. pound — a weight
  12. court — for sport
  13. drill — army training
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. court — of a king
  17. chip — for betting
  18. court — of law
  19. net — for catching
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. chip — to eat
  22. drill — a practice
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. cell — in biology

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