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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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468
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: temple · degree · cell · fall · bat · track · land · mug

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. fall — the season
  3. track — a path
  4. track — to keep track
  5. land — a country
  6. track — a song
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. land — to come down
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. mug — a face
  12. degree — temperature
  13. mug — to rob
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cell — in biology
  16. degree — an amount
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fall — to drop
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. degree — from a university
  22. cell — a phone
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. mug — a cup

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