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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. degree — temperature
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. swing — music
  5. root — the cause
  6. root — of a word
  7. rule — government
  8. rule — a law
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pass — a permit
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. object — to protest
  13. object — an aim
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. swing — in golf
  16. swing — to play on
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. cold — not warm
  19. root — of a plant
  20. degree — an amount
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wound — an injury
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cold — the Cold War

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