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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: degree · bound · pit · fan · straw · mine · cell · present

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. present — a gift
  3. bound — tied together
  4. pit — in a race
  5. degree — temperature
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. degree — from a university
  10. mine — for digging
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bound — certain
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. present — the time now
  16. bound — obliged
  17. present — there
  18. degree — an amount
  19. pit — a hole
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. cell — a phone
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. straw — a straw man

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