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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. cold — not warm
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. rule — a law
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. pop — soda
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wound — an injury
  14. pop — to visit
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cold — an illness
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. pop — music
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. rule — government
  23. kick — in football
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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