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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bowl · cell · key · game · degree · bark

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. key — the most important part
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. degree — temperature
  10. game — a match
  11. key — for a lock
  12. bark — to shout
  13. game — wild animals
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cell — in biology
  17. key — in music
  18. bark — of a tree

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