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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pitch — completely
  3. degree — temperature
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. mug — to rob
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. can — a tin
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. land — to come down
  11. can — a tin
  12. cold — not warm
  13. land — ground
  14. cell — in biology
  15. degree — from a university
  16. mug — a cup
  17. kid — child
  18. kid — to tease
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. cell — a phone
  22. mug — a face
  23. land — a country
  24. can — to be able to

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