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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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Word bank
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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — an amount
  5. last — finally
  6. cell — in biology
  7. clip — a video
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. mine — for digging
  11. last — to go on
  12. clip — for paper
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. clip — to cut
  15. cell — a phone
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mug — a cup
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. last — final
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. mug — to rob
  24. racket — a loud noise

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