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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. file — a tool
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. spring — the season
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. cell — a phone
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. rule — government
  11. mug — a face
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. mug — to rob
  14. shower — to wash
  15. shower — rain
  16. file — a line of people
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — of water
  19. cell — in biology
  20. file — a document
  21. mug — a cup
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. kick — in football
  24. rule — a law

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