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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: ball · date · cell · lie · clip · roll · track · degree

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. date — the fruit
  3. clip — for paper
  4. ball — a dance
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. degree — an amount
  8. track — a path
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. track — to keep track
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. track — a song
  13. degree — temperature
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cell — in biology
  17. roll — a cake
  18. clip — a video
  19. lie — to recline
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. roll — a list
  24. ball — a great time

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