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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. row — a line
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. net — for catching
  7. degree — an amount
  8. row — to paddle
  9. object — to protest
  10. cap — a lid
  11. land — to come down
  12. cap — a hat
  13. land — ground
  14. object — an aim
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. degree — temperature
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. net — in sport
  21. net — after costs
  22. bat — the animal
  23. land — a country
  24. cap — of ice

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