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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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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. clip — to cut
  3. squash — to crush
  4. face — to point toward
  5. game — wild animals
  6. degree — temperature
  7. face — to confront
  8. degree — an amount
  9. bear — the animal
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. bear — the animal
  12. rule — a law
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. degree — from a university
  15. rule — government
  16. face — part of the head
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. game — a match
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. game — a kind of play

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