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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 124 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: lie · pit · cell · nail · bowl · tube · cold · trunk

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. pit — a hole
  3. lie — to recline
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. pit — in a race
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cold — not warm
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tube — a container
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cold — an illness
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. cell — a phone
  24. lie — an untruth

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