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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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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: cell · row · degree · chip · rule · wound · mouse · wake

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cell — in biology
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. cell — a phone
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. wound — an injury
  9. row — a line
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. chip — for betting
  12. degree — an amount
  13. rule — a law
  14. wake — a trail
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. degree — from a university
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. chip — to eat
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. degree — temperature
  22. rule — government
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. row — to paddle

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