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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. degree — temperature
  3. land — a country
  4. bound — obliged
  5. cell — a phone
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. cue — a signal
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cue — a hint
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. land — to come down
  13. cell — in biology
  14. bound — tied together
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bound — certain
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cue — for pool
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. wave — with your hand

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