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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: mate · kid · fall · cell · row · pitcher · mug · bark

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. mate — a partner
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — child
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. kid — to tease
  7. mug — to rob
  8. mug — a face
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cell — in biology
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. mate — a friend
  15. bark — to shout
  16. row — to paddle
  17. fall — to drop
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. mug — a cup
  21. mate — to breed
  22. fall — the season
  23. row — a line
  24. fall — to drop

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