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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. tear — to rip
  4. date — the fruit
  5. cell — in biology
  6. net — after costs
  7. spring — the season
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. spring — of water
  11. squash — the sport
  12. vault — a safe
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. net — in sport
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. squash — to crush
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. tear — from crying
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. net — for catching
  21. tear — from crying
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. spring — a coil

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