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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. When will it ________________ you to start?
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — help
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. degree — from a university
  7. suit — in cards
  8. pop — soda
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a tool
  12. cell — in biology
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. file — a document
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. pop — music
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. cell — a phone
  20. degree — an amount
  21. degree — temperature
  22. suit — to fit
  23. suit — clothes
  24. cell — in a prison

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