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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 120 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: cold · nail · degree · pass · cell · face · tube · bowl

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. degree — an amount
  3. cell — in biology
  4. face — to point toward
  5. degree — from a university
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cell — a phone
  9. pass — a permit
  10. face — to confront
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. face — part of the head
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. tube — a container
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. degree — temperature
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. nail — for a hammer

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