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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. kick — in football
  3. last — to go on
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bound — obliged
  6. last — finally
  7. degree — an amount
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. bound — tied together
  11. cold — an illness
  12. stock — goods
  13. last — final
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. cold — not warm
  16. stock — shares
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. bound — certain
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. row — to paddle
  21. degree — from a university
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. kick — a thrill

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