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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. spring — of water
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. board — to get on
  11. craft — a skill
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — the season
  14. degree — temperature
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. board — a committee
  18. cell — in biology
  19. craft — boats
  20. stand — to bear
  21. wake — a trail
  22. rule — government
  23. rule — a law
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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