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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. spring — a coil
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. degree — an amount
  7. cell — a phone
  8. rule — government
  9. cell — in biology
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wake — a trail
  12. branch — a division
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. degree — from a university
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. wind — moving air
  17. spring — of water
  18. rule — a law
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. wind — moving air
  22. spring — the season
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. degree — temperature

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