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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cell — a phone
  3. fine — all right
  4. mate — to breed
  5. fine — high quality
  6. degree — an amount
  7. mate — a friend
  8. mate — a partner
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. season — in sport
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. season — of the year
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. degree — temperature
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. cell — in biology
  18. deal — to handle

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