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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: dip · rock · present · leaves · mine · bat · cell · degree

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. cell — a phone
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. present — there
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. dip — to sink
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. cell — in biology
  13. degree — from a university
  14. rock — music
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. degree — temperature
  17. present — a gift
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. rock — a stone
  21. mine — for digging
  22. degree — an amount
  23. present — the time now
  24. bat — the animal

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