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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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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: bear · sharp · chair · fall · spell · cell · degree · wind

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — temperature
  4. cell — a phone
  5. degree — from a university
  6. sharp — clever
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cell — in biology
  11. chair — a leader
  12. fall — the season
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. bear — the animal
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. spell — letters
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. spell — a short time
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — moving air
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — to drop

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