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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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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cold — an illness
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. game — wild animals
  7. tear — from crying
  8. vault — a safe
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. fall — the season
  11. bark — to shout
  12. tear — to rip
  13. cold — not warm
  14. fall — to drop
  15. can — a tin
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. can — a tin
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. can — to be able to
  21. cell — in biology
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. fall — to drop
  24. game — a match

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