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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. degree — from a university
  8. cell — in biology
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. lean — to bend
  11. cold — an illness
  12. lean — thin
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. file — a document
  15. cold — not warm
  16. file — a line of people
  17. file — a tool
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. degree — an amount
  20. degree — temperature
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cell — a phone
  23. deal — to handle
  24. leaves — lets stay

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