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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 people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. mate — a friend
  5. degree — an amount
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. hand — help
  9. degree — from a university
  10. net — for catching
  11. mate — to breed
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. row — a line
  15. degree — temperature
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. row — to paddle
  19. net — after costs
  20. hand — in cards
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. net — in sport
  23. mate — a partner
  24. ruler — for measuring

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