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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. spring — the season
  4. cell — a phone
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. spring — a coil
  7. craft — boats
  8. spring — of water
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. cell — in biology
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. degree — an amount
  13. craft — a skill
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. dip — to sink
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. game — wild animals
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. toast — bread
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — from a university

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