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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. chest — a box
  4. net — in sport
  5. chest — of your body
  6. shower — to wash
  7. firm — steady
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. chest — of your body
  10. degree — from a university
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. shower — rain
  13. rule — government
  14. spell — magic
  15. rule — a law
  16. degree — temperature
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. spell — a short time
  19. firm — a company
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. firm — decided
  22. net — after costs
  23. net — for catching
  24. spell — letters

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