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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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Word bank
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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 · chest · ball · cold · mug · prune · plane · fork

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. prune — to trim
  5. plane — a tool
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. ball — a great time
  8. mug — to rob
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. mug — a face
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cell — a phone
  14. chest — a box
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cold — not warm
  17. mug — a cup
  18. ball — a dance
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. chest — of your body
  24. fork — in a road

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