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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. last — to go on
  3. foot — a measure
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. wind — moving air
  6. degree — temperature
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. pitch — completely
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. last — final
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. wind — moving air
  14. degree — an amount
  15. last — finally
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. foot — the bottom

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