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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. rash — hasty
  3. cap — of ice
  4. cue — a signal
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. season — in sport
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. game — a match
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. degree — from a university
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cap — a hat
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. degree — temperature
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. cap — a lid
  19. cue — for pool
  20. cue — a hint
  21. rash — a series
  22. mine — for digging
  23. sharp — clever
  24. season — of the year

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