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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.

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: tube · cell · degree · wound · bass · leaves · cold · hand

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. cold — an illness
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cell — in biology
  6. degree — from a university
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. hand — help
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. tube — the underground
  12. wound — an injury
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wound — an injury
  15. degree — an amount
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. bass — the fish
  19. bass — low music
  20. tube — a container
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. hand — in cards
  23. cell — a phone
  24. hand — part of the body

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