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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. sharp — clever
  3. cell — a phone
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. cell — in biology
  6. bass — low music
  7. lean — to bend
  8. ground — crushed
  9. bass — the fish
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. degree — an amount
  13. lean — thin
  14. bulb — for light
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chip — to eat
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. bulb — for light
  19. degree — temperature
  20. ground — a position
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. ground — the earth

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