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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. kick — in football
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. fine — all right
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. degree — an amount
  10. degree — temperature
  11. pitch — completely
  12. cell — a phone
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. degree — from a university
  20. cell — in biology
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. fine — high quality
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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