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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. prune — to trim
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bass — low music
  6. degree — temperature
  7. saw — the tool
  8. game — wild animals
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. rule — a law
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. saw — the tool
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. degree — an amount
  20. bass — the fish
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. rule — government
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. game — a match

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