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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. current — happening now
  3. degree — temperature
  4. dip — to sink
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. degree — an amount
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. degree — from a university
  10. mine — for digging
  11. saw — the tool
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. land — ground
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. land — to come down
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. land — a country
  19. game — a match
  20. current — electric
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. saw — the tool
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. current — of water

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