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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cell — in biology
  3. tube — a container
  4. mug — a face
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. degree — an amount
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — the animal
  12. mug — a cup
  13. rash — a series
  14. snap — to click
  15. rash — hasty
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. degree — temperature
  19. tube — the underground
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. dip — to sink
  22. mug — to rob
  23. cell — a phone
  24. rash — on the skin

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