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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. net — in sport
  3. game — wild animals
  4. pit — in a race
  5. pit — a hole
  6. rest — what's left
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. net — after costs
  9. wind — moving air
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. degree — temperature
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. net — for catching
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. rest — a break
  19. rest — what's left
  20. degree — from a university
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — to shout
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. game — a match

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