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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: kid · land · cell · wound · deal · ball · bat · bay

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. ball — a dance
  5. land — a country
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. land — to come down
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. deal — to handle
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. ball — a great time
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wound — an injury
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. wound — an injury
  19. kid — child
  20. cell — a phone
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. land — ground
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. ball — a round shape

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