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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. last — to go on
  3. degree — from a university
  4. object — an aim
  5. bat — the animal
  6. degree — temperature
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. object — to protest
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. object — a thing
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. last — final
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. mug — to rob
  17. mug — a face
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cell — in biology
  20. stem — to come from
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. last — finally
  23. mug — a cup
  24. sharp — with an edge

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