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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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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: bat · cell · lean · spell · pop · bore · rule · kid

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. kid — to tease
  4. rule — a law
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pop — soda
  7. kid — child
  8. bore — to drill
  9. pop — to visit
  10. bore — to tire
  11. bat — the animal
  12. pop — music
  13. lean — thin
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. spell — magic
  16. spell — letters
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. lean — to bend
  20. rule — government
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. cell — in biology
  24. spell — a short time

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