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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. rule — government
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cell — a phone
  5. ball — a great time
  6. board — to get on
  7. cell — in biology
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. wound — an injury
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. chest — of your body
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. board — a committee
  16. ball — a dance
  17. rule — a law
  18. chest — a box
  19. wound — an injury
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bat — the animal
  24. board — a flat piece

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