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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. degree — an amount
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. branch — a division
  5. degree — temperature
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. degree — from a university
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. scale — in music
  11. rock — music
  12. shower — to wash
  13. scale — size or range
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. rock — a stone
  19. bat — the animal
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. shower — rain
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bat — for baseball

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