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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. squash — to crush
  5. face — to confront
  6. kick — in football
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. squash — the sport
  9. game — wild animals
  10. degree — an amount
  11. game — a match
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. degree — from a university
  14. land — a country
  15. land — ground
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. degree — temperature
  18. face — to point toward
  19. face — part of the head
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. mine — for digging
  23. deal — to handle
  24. kick — a thrill

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