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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. mug — a face
  3. mug — a cup
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chest — of your body
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. chest — of your body
  11. lean — thin
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cold — an illness
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. mug — to rob
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bound — tied together
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. lean — to bend
  21. bound — certain
  22. stem — to come from
  23. chest — a box
  24. bound — obliged

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