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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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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: cell · rush · bat · clip · nail · staff · degree · pop

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. degree — an amount
  5. staff — employees
  6. pop — to visit
  7. clip — to cut
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. rush — hurry
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. clip — a video
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. cell — a phone
  17. staff — a stick
  18. pop — soda
  19. cell — in biology
  20. staff — employees
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. pop — music

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