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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. cell — a phone
  5. row — to paddle
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. cold — an illness
  8. degree — temperature
  9. row — a line
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. suit — in cards
  12. stem — to come from
  13. cold — not warm
  14. suit — to fit
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. cell — in biology
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. pass — a permit
  20. degree — from a university
  21. date — the fruit
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. suit — clothes
  24. degree — an amount

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