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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: stick · bowl · temple · spell · cell · bass · present · degree

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. spell — magic
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. cell — in biology
  11. bass — the fish
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. present — there
  14. degree — temperature
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. spell — letters
  17. cell — a phone
  18. present — a gift
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. spell — a short time
  21. bass — low music
  22. present — the time now
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — an amount

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