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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  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. bat — for baseball
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. club — a group
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. fall — to drop
  6. saw — the tool
  7. club — for dancing
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. fall — to drop
  10. face — to point toward
  11. face — to confront
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. fall — the season
  15. cell — in biology
  16. face — part of the head
  17. saw — the tool
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. mine — for digging
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. bat — the animal
  23. club — for golf
  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