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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 120 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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. cell — in biology
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. land — a country
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. land — ground
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. cell — a phone
  10. chair — a leader
  11. wind — moving air
  12. fork — in a road
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. land — to come down
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. wind — moving air
  18. key — for a lock
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. bat — the animal
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lie — to recline
  23. key — the most important part
  24. bat — in an idiom

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