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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cell · lean · bowl · suit · bat · tear

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. cell — a phone
  3. bat — the animal
  4. lean — thin
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. suit — in cards
  7. suit — to fit
  8. tear — from crying
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. cell — in biology
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. lean — to bend
  16. tear — to rip
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. suit — clothes

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