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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. firm — decided
  3. land — ground
  4. key — for a lock
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. key — the most important part
  7. key — in music
  8. branch — a division
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. cell — a phone
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. row — a line
  15. cell — in biology
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. firm — a company
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. dip — to sink
  21. bat — the animal
  22. firm — steady
  23. land — a country
  24. land — to come down

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