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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 · hand · stick · row · toast · file · spell · cell

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. degree — an amount
  3. spell — a short time
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. row — to paddle
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. spell — magic
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. file — a tool
  11. degree — from a university
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — help
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a line of people
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in biology
  18. row — a line
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. spell — letters
  21. degree — temperature
  22. toast — bread
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. hand — in cards

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