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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. mug — a face
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. hand — in cards
  6. game — a match
  7. degree — from a university
  8. game — wild animals
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. tube — the underground
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. pass — a permit
  14. tube — a container
  15. hand — help
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. mug — to rob
  20. stem — to come from
  21. degree — an amount
  22. mug — a cup
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. degree — temperature

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