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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. pound — a weight
  4. shower — rain
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — in sport
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. shower — to wash
  10. cue — a signal
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. cue — for pool
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — for digging
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. rule — government
  18. rule — a law
  19. degree — from a university
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — an amount
  23. net — after costs
  24. cue — a hint

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