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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: cell · staff · saw · temple · bat · net · lie · pop

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. pop — to visit
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. saw — the tool
  5. lie — to recline
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. cell — in biology
  9. staff — employees
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. net — after costs
  12. cell — a phone
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. pop — soda
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — in sport
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. staff — a stick
  20. bat — the animal
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. pop — music
  23. saw — the tool
  24. bat — for baseball

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