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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. cell — in biology
  3. band — a music group
  4. snap — to click
  5. degree — from a university
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cell — a phone
  9. current — happening now
  10. degree — an amount
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. tear — to rip
  13. row — a line
  14. degree — temperature
  15. tear — from crying
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. current — of water
  18. band — a ring
  19. current — electric
  20. bank — of a river
  21. row — to paddle
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. bank — for money
  24. bank — for money

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