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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 124 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pop — to visit
  4. spell — magic
  5. pop — soda
  6. spell — letters
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bound — obliged
  9. degree — temperature
  10. bound — certain
  11. cell — a phone
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. wound — an injury
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. degree — an amount
  19. spell — a short time
  20. bound — tied together
  21. pop — music
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. cell — in biology
  24. patient — a sick person

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