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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. snap — to click
  3. mate — a friend
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. chip — for betting
  7. present — the time now
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. degree — from a university
  10. chip — to eat
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. rule — a law
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cell — in biology
  15. present — there
  16. mate — a partner
  17. rule — government
  18. cell — a phone
  19. present — a gift
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. mate — to breed
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. chip — in a computer

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