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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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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: club · degree · bound · cell · mate · staff

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. staff — employees
  3. cell — a phone
  4. mate — to breed
  5. bound — obliged
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. staff — a stick
  8. degree — from a university
  9. bound — certain
  10. mate — a partner
  11. club — for golf
  12. cell — in biology
  13. club — for dancing
  14. mate — a friend
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bound — tied together
  18. staff — employees

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