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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. object — an aim
  3. land — a country
  4. object — a thing
  5. degree — an amount
  6. season — of the year
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. swing — in golf
  9. scale — in music
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. swing — to play on
  13. scale — size or range
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. swing — music
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. land — ground
  19. season — in sport
  20. degree — from a university
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. degree — temperature
  23. land — to come down
  24. coach — a trainer

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