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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 116 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: cell · pass · degree · trunk · saw · pit · hand · stick

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. degree — an amount
  3. pass — a permit
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. saw — the tool
  6. degree — from a university
  7. hand — help
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. hand — in cards
  13. pit — in a race
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. degree — temperature
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. pit — a hole
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cell — in biology
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. trunk — of a tree

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