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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. ground — a position
  3. present — a gift
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. degree — temperature
  6. shower — to wash
  7. spell — magic
  8. fall — to drop
  9. kick — in football
  10. ground — the earth
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. degree — from a university
  13. fall — to drop
  14. ground — crushed
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. shower — rain
  17. spell — a short time
  18. present — the time now
  19. spell — letters
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. degree — an amount
  22. fall — the season
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. racket — for tennis

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