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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 took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. rush — hurry
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. drill — army training
  10. stand — to bear
  11. net — in sport
  12. drill — the tool
  13. wake — a trail
  14. drill — a practice
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bat — the animal
  19. net — after costs
  20. game — wild animals
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. degree — from a university
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. game — a match

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