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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 120 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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. rule — a law
  3. degree — an amount
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. shower — rain
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. shower — to wash
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. rule — government
  11. field — a subject
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. snap — to click
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. mark — a trace
  17. degree — temperature
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. mark — a grade
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — for sport
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. mark — to pay attention

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