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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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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: row · staff · race · cell · cap · cold · degree · cabinet

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. cell — in biology
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. staff — employees
  8. staff — employees
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cap — a lid
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cold — an illness
  14. row — a line
  15. race — the arms race
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — from a university
  19. cold — not warm
  20. race — humankind
  21. staff — a stick
  22. row — to paddle
  23. degree — temperature
  24. race — a contest

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