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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. stand — to bear
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cell — in biology
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bat — the animal
  8. pit — in a race
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. chair — a leader
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. tube — the underground
  15. cell — a phone
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. pit — a hole
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. degree — an amount

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