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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 116 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: game · degree · trunk · mate · cap · ground · plane · cell

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. ground — a position
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. degree — an amount
  5. ground — the earth
  6. mate — a friend
  7. degree — from a university
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. cap — a hat
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. game — wild animals
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — in biology
  14. degree — temperature
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cell — a phone
  17. mate — a partner
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. game — a match
  20. ground — crushed
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. plane — a tool
  24. mate — to breed

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