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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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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. chest — of your body
  3. degree — an amount
  4. staff — employees
  5. cell — a phone
  6. staff — a stick
  7. land — a country
  8. land — to come down
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. degree — temperature
  13. staff — employees
  14. degree — from a university
  15. pitch — completely
  16. land — ground
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body

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