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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. degree — from a university
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. cell — a phone
  5. rash — a series
  6. mate — a friend
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. degree — temperature
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. spell — magic
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cell — in biology
  16. mate — to breed
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. degree — an amount
  20. spell — a short time
  21. rash — hasty
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. mate — a partner

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