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

Word bank: temple · cell · file · pit · bay · pop · game · fall

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — the season
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. file — a tool
  7. pit — a hole
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. pop — music
  11. file — a line of people
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. game — wild animals
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. cell — a phone
  19. file — a document
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. pop — to visit
  22. game — a match
  23. cell — in biology
  24. pit — in a race

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