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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 thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. cell — in biology
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. net — in sport
  7. cold — an illness
  8. degree — from a university
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. net — for catching
  11. degree — temperature
  12. degree — an amount
  13. roll — a list
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. net — after costs
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. roll — a cake
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. cell — a phone
  21. bear — the animal
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bear — the animal

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