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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. degree — temperature
  3. cold — not warm
  4. staff — a stick
  5. net — in sport
  6. net — after costs
  7. land — to come down
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. pop — to visit
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. present — a gift
  12. staff — employees
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. land — a country
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. degree — from a university
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pop — music
  19. pop — soda
  20. degree — an amount
  21. land — ground
  22. staff — employees
  23. present — the time now
  24. present — there

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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