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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. cap — a hat
  3. degree — an amount
  4. net — after costs
  5. degree — temperature
  6. lie — to recline
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. degree — from a university
  10. net — in sport
  11. cap — of ice
  12. file — a tool
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. net — for catching
  15. court — of law
  16. court — for sport
  17. cell — a phone
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. file — a document
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. cap — a lid
  23. court — of a king
  24. file — a line of people

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