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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cell — a phone
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. degree — from a university
  6. present — a gift
  7. present — there
  8. spell — magic
  9. spell — letters
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. present — the time now
  14. net — in sport
  15. net — after costs
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cap — a lid
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. net — for catching
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — temperature
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cap — of ice

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