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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. wind — moving air
  5. file — a tool
  6. degree — from a university
  7. degree — temperature
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. squash — the sport
  10. perch — the fish
  11. face — part of the head
  12. file — a line of people
  13. face — to point toward
  14. squash — to crush
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. file — a document
  19. rock — music
  20. rock — a stone
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. kid — child
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. face — to confront

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