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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bass — low music
  4. degree — from a university
  5. ground — a position
  6. snap — to click
  7. present — the time now
  8. bass — the fish
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — to tease
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. ground — the earth
  16. present — a gift
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. present — there
  19. mine — for digging
  20. ground — crushed
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. degree — temperature
  24. kid — child

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