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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. degree — an amount
  4. fall — to drop
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. root — of a plant
  7. kick — in football
  8. degree — from a university
  9. game — wild animals
  10. degree — temperature
  11. game — a match
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. row — to paddle
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. root — the cause
  18. fall — to drop
  19. root — of a word
  20. row — a line
  21. fall — the season
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wake — before a funeral

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