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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: kid · lie · degree · chair · cell · content

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. lie — to recline
  3. degree — from a university
  4. kid — child
  5. content — happy
  6. degree — temperature
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. degree — an amount
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. cell — in biology
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — the amount
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. kid — to tease
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. chair — a leader

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