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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. cold — an illness
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. track — to keep track
  5. scale — in music
  6. cold — not warm
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. track — a song
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. rest — a break
  13. degree — an amount
  14. scale — size or range
  15. rest — what's left
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. track — a path
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. rest — what's left

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