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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. cell — a phone
  3. degree — temperature
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. sharp — clever
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — in biology
  10. pop — music
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. pop — soda
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. can — to be able to
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. degree — from a university
  19. can — a tin
  20. pop — to visit
  21. mine — for digging
  22. can — a tin
  23. degree — an amount
  24. wake — a trail

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