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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 116 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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. cold — not warm
  3. drill — the tool
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. degree — temperature
  8. object — to protest
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. object — an aim
  11. land — ground
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. land — to come down
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. cold — an illness
  17. drill — a practice
  18. object — a thing
  19. degree — an amount
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. drill — army training
  22. degree — from a university
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. land — a country

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