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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 120 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. present — the time now
  4. bat — the animal
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. present — there
  7. current — electric
  8. band — a ring
  9. cell — a phone
  10. kid — child
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. current — happening now
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. cell — in biology
  18. band — a music group
  19. current — of water
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — from a university
  23. present — a gift
  24. kid — to tease

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