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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. degree — temperature
  3. tube — the underground
  4. fine — high quality
  5. degree — from a university
  6. fine — all right
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. can — a tin
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. can — to be able to
  11. cell — a phone
  12. degree — an amount
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — a coil
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. spring — the season
  20. tube — a container
  21. cell — in biology
  22. wake — a trail
  23. can — a tin
  24. dip — to sink

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