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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. degree — from a university
  7. kid — child
  8. face — part of the head
  9. kid — to tease
  10. scale — in music
  11. scale — size or range
  12. snap — to click
  13. file — a tool
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. face — to confront
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. face — to point toward
  19. file — a document
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. file — a line of people
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — temperature
  24. bay — a horse colour

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