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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. last — final
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. bass — low music
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. degree — from a university
  8. game — a match
  9. fall — the season
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. degree — temperature
  12. last — to go on
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fine — all right
  15. land — to come down
  16. last — finally
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. game — wild animals
  19. bass — the fish
  20. fine — high quality
  21. fall — to drop
  22. land — ground
  23. land — a country
  24. game — a kind of play

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