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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. cell — a phone
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. stem — to come from
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bat — the animal
  10. club — for golf
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. net — for catching
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. file — a tool
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. net — in sport
  22. cell — in biology
  23. club — a group
  24. net — after costs

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