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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. degree — from a university
  5. firm — a company
  6. cold — not warm
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. degree — temperature
  9. capital — money
  10. firm — steady
  11. degree — an amount
  12. march — the month
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. march — music
  17. capital — a city
  18. cell — a phone
  19. mate — to breed
  20. mate — a partner
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. mate — a friend
  23. firm — decided
  24. march — the month

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