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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. bound — obliged
  3. degree — from a university
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. scale — size or range
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. chair — a leader
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bound — certain
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — to drop
  19. degree — temperature
  20. degree — an amount
  21. scale — in music
  22. cell — in biology
  23. fall — the season
  24. chair — to sit on

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