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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. row — a line
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to click
  7. march — the month
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. row — to paddle
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. degree — temperature
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. march — music
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. dip — to sink
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. degree — from a university
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. degree — an amount
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. cell — in biology

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