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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. object — a thing
  3. spring — a coil
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. object — an aim
  6. race — humankind
  7. degree — temperature
  8. face — to confront
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. face — part of the head
  11. land — a country
  12. bore — to drill
  13. race — a contest
  14. object — to protest
  15. race — the arms race
  16. face — to point toward
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. land — ground
  19. degree — from a university
  20. spring — the season
  21. bore — to tire
  22. land — to come down
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. spring — of water

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