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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. pit — in a race
  4. track — a song
  5. wind — moving air
  6. kick — in football
  7. mine — for digging
  8. pit — a hole
  9. bat — the animal
  10. track — to keep track
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. scale — in music
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. scale — size or range
  18. degree — an amount
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. wind — moving air
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. track — a path

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