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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. cell — in biology
  3. file — a document
  4. pit — a hole
  5. cell — a phone
  6. degree — from a university
  7. file — a tool
  8. degree — an amount
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. bound — certain
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. spell — a short time
  14. mine — for digging
  15. degree — temperature
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — magic
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. pit — in a race
  20. bound — tied together
  21. bound — obliged
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. file — a line of people

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