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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. staff — employees
  3. saw — the tool
  4. chest — of your body
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. staff — a stick
  8. saw — the tool
  9. cell — a phone
  10. rash — hasty
  11. cell — in biology
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. wake — a trail
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chest — a box
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rash — a series
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. staff — employees
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. fork — in a road
  24. chest — of your body

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