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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. degree — an amount
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. fall — to drop
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. degree — temperature
  8. chip — for betting
  9. mug — to rob
  10. court — for sport
  11. lean — thin
  12. mug — a face
  13. court — of a king
  14. game — wild animals
  15. clip — for paper
  16. lean — to bend
  17. fall — to drop
  18. degree — from a university
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. chip — to eat
  21. clip — to cut
  22. mug — a cup
  23. court — of law
  24. clip — a video

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