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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: object · leaves · rest · degree · deal · cell · tube · march

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. tube — a container
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. degree — temperature
  8. rest — what's left
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. rest — a break
  12. object — to protest
  13. tube — the underground
  14. cell — a phone
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. march — the month
  17. cell — in biology
  18. deal — to handle
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. rest — what's left
  22. degree — an amount
  23. object — an aim
  24. object — a thing

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