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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. object — a thing
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. wound — an injury
  5. degree — from a university
  6. last — to go on
  7. game — wild animals
  8. degree — temperature
  9. last — finally
  10. object — to protest
  11. object — an aim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. game — a match
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. last — final
  18. prune — to trim
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. pass — a permit

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