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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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Word bank
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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. rush — hurry
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. pop — music
  8. mine — for digging
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bound — tied together
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. pop — soda
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. pop — to visit
  20. bound — certain
  21. bound — obliged
  22. hand — in cards
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. wave — of the sea

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