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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. staff — employees
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bound — obliged
  5. suit — clothes
  6. cell — a phone
  7. mug — to rob
  8. bound — tied together
  9. staff — employees
  10. clip — to cut
  11. file — a line of people
  12. mug — a face
  13. clip — for paper
  14. file — a document
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. file — a tool
  17. cell — in biology
  18. degree — from a university
  19. degree — temperature
  20. mug — a cup
  21. staff — a stick
  22. bound — certain
  23. suit — to fit
  24. clip — a video

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