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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. land — ground
  3. land — to come down
  4. shower — to wash
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. staff — employees
  7. key — in music
  8. staff — employees
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. staff — a stick
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wound — an injury
  13. degree — temperature
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. wake — a trail
  16. degree — an amount
  17. key — the most important part
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. shower — rain
  21. key — for a lock
  22. land — a country
  23. kick — in football
  24. wound — an injury

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