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

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. cold — an illness
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bound — tied together
  11. bat — the animal
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. deal — to handle
  14. cell — in biology
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. degree — an amount
  17. degree — from a university
  18. deal — an agreement

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