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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 don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. degree — temperature
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. cell — a phone
  5. rock — music
  6. rock — a stone
  7. scale — in music
  8. face — part of the head
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. face — to point toward
  11. cell — in biology
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. degree — from a university
  14. object — to protest
  15. scale — size or range
  16. object — an aim
  17. face — to confront
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. snap — to click
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. object — a thing
  23. degree — an amount
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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