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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: dip · racket · band · file · cell · tube · straw · degree

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  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. dip — to dunk
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. degree — an amount
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. cell — in biology
  7. tube — the underground
  8. degree — temperature
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. tube — a container
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a document
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. dip — to sink
  17. cell — a phone
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. band — a music group
  23. cell — in a prison
  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