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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. bound — obliged
  4. land — ground
  5. land — a country
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. spell — magic
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. cell — in biology
  12. spell — letters
  13. bound — tied together
  14. wake — a trail
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. land — to come down
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. spell — a short time
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. bat — the animal
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. bound — certain
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. cell — a phone

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