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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. mate — a partner
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. drill — a practice
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. cell — in biology
  7. degree — an amount
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. degree — from a university
  11. cell — a phone
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. drill — the tool
  14. firm — steady
  15. mate — to breed
  16. file — a line of people
  17. degree — temperature
  18. firm — decided
  19. file — a document
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. drill — army training
  23. mate — a friend
  24. file — a tool

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