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

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. lean — thin
  4. degree — an amount
  5. fall — the season
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. degree — temperature
  8. ground — a position
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — to drop
  11. kid — to tease
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. lean — to bend
  17. ground — the earth
  18. degree — from a university

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