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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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Word bank
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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cold — not warm
  4. suit — in cards
  5. cell — in biology
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a tool
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. suit — clothes
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. degree — from a university
  13. mate — a friend
  14. suit — to fit
  15. mate — a partner
  16. degree — an amount
  17. spell — magic
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. spell — a short time
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. file — a document
  22. cold — an illness
  23. degree — temperature
  24. mate — to breed

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