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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. track — a song
  3. track — to keep track
  4. bat — the animal
  5. mate — to breed
  6. mate — a friend
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. dip — to sink
  9. wake — a trail
  10. cell — a phone
  11. shower — rain
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. shower — to wash
  17. track — a path
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. cell — in biology
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. mate — a partner
  24. wake — before a funeral

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