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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tube — a container
  4. degree — an amount
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. degree — temperature
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. fine — high quality
  9. mine — for digging
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. cold — an illness
  13. net — after costs
  14. rush — hurry
  15. net — for catching
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. degree — from a university
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. net — in sport
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. deal — to handle
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. fine — all right
  24. fine — a penalty

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