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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. mug — a cup
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. cue — a hint
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. swing — music
  7. cue — for pool
  8. cue — a signal
  9. swing — in golf
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. mug — a face
  12. cell — in biology
  13. ball — a great time
  14. ball — a dance
  15. swing — to play on
  16. cold — an illness
  17. degree — an amount
  18. mug — to rob
  19. cold — not warm
  20. degree — temperature
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. degree — from a university

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