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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. cell — a phone
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. degree — temperature
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — from a university
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. pit — in a race
  9. sharp — clever
  10. cell — in biology
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. plane — a tool
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. drill — army training
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — in music
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. pit — a hole
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. drill — a practice

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