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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. ball — a great time
  5. degree — from a university
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cap — a lid
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cap — of ice
  11. cell — in biology
  12. degree — an amount
  13. tear — from crying
  14. degree — temperature
  15. cap — a hat
  16. ball — a dance
  17. mine — for digging
  18. tear — to rip

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