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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. fork — in a road
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. hand — in cards
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. hand — help
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. cell — in biology
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. degree — temperature
  15. band — a music group
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. wake — a trail
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. cell — a phone
  20. band — a ring
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. dip — to sink
  23. stand — to bear
  24. wake — before a funeral

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