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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. rule — government
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. snap — to click
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. pitch — completely
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — the animal
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. degree — from a university
  17. cold — not warm
  18. degree — an amount
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rule — a law
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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