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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: mate · trunk · degree · saw · land · sharp · cell · roll

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. mate — a partner
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. mate — to breed
  6. land — a country
  7. land — to come down
  8. mate — a friend
  9. roll — a cake
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. saw — the tool
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. sharp — clever
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. degree — temperature
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — from a university
  19. cell — a phone
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. land — ground
  22. roll — a list
  23. saw — the tool
  24. cell — in biology

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