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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. bound — tied together
  4. bound — certain
  5. shower — to wash
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — temperature
  11. current — electric
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. current — of water
  14. cell — a phone
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. bound — obliged
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wake — a trail
  20. current — happening now
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. cell — in biology
  23. shower — rain
  24. degree — an amount

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