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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: bowl · pound · last · cell · mine · hand · present · wake

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. last — finally
  3. present — a gift
  4. wake — a trail
  5. last — to go on
  6. hand — help
  7. last — final
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. present — the time now
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. hand — in cards
  13. present — there
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. cell — a phone
  16. mine — for digging
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. pound — a weight
  24. cell — in biology

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