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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — in biology
  3. can — to be able to
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. cell — a phone
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. degree — an amount
  8. clip — to cut
  9. tube — a container
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. clip — for paper
  12. can — a tin
  13. degree — temperature
  14. clip — a video
  15. wake — a trail
  16. pound — a weight
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. can — a tin
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. tube — the underground
  23. sharp — clever
  24. degree — from a university

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