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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.

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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: mug · degree · rule · cue · cell · game · capital · file

  1. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. mug — to rob
  4. mug — a cup
  5. degree — temperature
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. game — a match
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. capital — a city
  10. mug — a face
  11. cell — a phone
  12. degree — an amount
  13. file — a tool
  14. cue — a hint
  15. rule — a law
  16. degree — from a university
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. game — wild animals
  19. capital — money
  20. cell — in biology
  21. file — a line of people
  22. rule — government
  23. file — a document
  24. cue — a signal

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