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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 120 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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. cell — a phone
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. last — final
  6. mug — a face
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wake — a trail
  9. game — a match
  10. present — the time now
  11. last — finally
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. degree — an amount
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. present — a gift
  17. last — to go on
  18. degree — temperature
  19. mug — to rob
  20. mug — a cup
  21. present — there
  22. cell — in biology
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. cell — in a prison

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