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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. degree — an amount
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cue — a signal
  8. pop — music
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. degree — temperature
  11. rash — hasty
  12. cold — an illness
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. rash — a series
  15. snap — to click
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. net — after costs
  18. degree — from a university
  19. pop — to visit
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. pop — soda
  22. net — in sport
  23. cue — for pool
  24. cue — a hint

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