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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: bowl · cell · key · game · degree · bark · wake · pass

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. key — for a lock
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. wake — a trail
  5. cell — in biology
  6. key — in music
  7. degree — temperature
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. pass — a permit
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. degree — an amount
  14. key — the most important part
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. degree — from a university
  18. game — wild animals
  19. bark — to shout
  20. cell — a phone
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. game — a match
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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