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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. degree — an amount
  3. game — a match
  4. land — a country
  5. chest — a box
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. firm — a company
  10. game — wild animals
  11. degree — temperature
  12. firm — steady
  13. degree — from a university
  14. roll — a list
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. wound — an injury
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. land — ground
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. firm — decided
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. wound — an injury
  24. land — to come down

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