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

Word bank: bound · bowl · deal · degree · game · cell · kid · bore

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. kid — child
  3. bore — to tire
  4. degree — from a university
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bore — to drill
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. degree — temperature
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. bound — certain
  13. game — wild animals
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bound — tied together
  18. deal — to handle
  19. cell — a phone
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. cell — in biology
  22. game — a match
  23. degree — an amount
  24. deal — a big deal

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