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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 120 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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. degree — temperature
  3. hand — in cards
  4. object — a thing
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — to crush
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. saw — the tool
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. mate — a partner
  12. saw — the tool
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. mate — a friend
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. hand — help
  18. object — an aim
  19. wake — a trail
  20. degree — an amount
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. degree — from a university
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. mate — to breed

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