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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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468
Word bank
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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. degree — an amount
  3. cell — a phone
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. chair — a leader
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. degree — temperature
  11. mine — for digging
  12. hand — in cards
  13. wind — moving air
  14. degree — from a university
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. vault — a safe
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. hand — help
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. wind — moving air
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. cell — in biology

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