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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.

Words on the sheet
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: cell · hand · saw · mine · degree · tear · spring · fine

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. saw — the tool
  3. fine — high quality
  4. cell — in biology
  5. degree — temperature
  6. hand — in cards
  7. spring — a coil
  8. saw — the tool
  9. hand — help
  10. spring — of water
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. cell — a phone
  15. tear — from crying
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. spring — the season
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. degree — an amount
  23. fine — all right
  24. degree — from a university

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