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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: prune · hand · degree · cell · chip · pass · tear · cabinet

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. degree — an amount
  4. cell — in biology
  5. chip — for betting
  6. tear — from crying
  7. hand — help
  8. pass — a permit
  9. prune — to trim
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. chip — to eat
  12. tear — from crying
  13. degree — temperature
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. cell — a phone
  18. hand — in cards
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. prune — to trim
  21. tear — to rip
  22. degree — from a university
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. cabinet — ministers

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