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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — a phone
  3. rash — hasty
  4. capital — a city
  5. band — a music group
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. fall — to drop
  10. spring — a coil
  11. band — a ring
  12. rash — a series
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. spring — of water
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. cell — in biology
  19. fall — the season
  20. capital — money
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. spring — the season
  24. fall — to drop

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