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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. degree — an amount
  3. ground — crushed
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. rock — a stone
  8. tube — a container
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. degree — temperature
  13. shower — rain
  14. degree — from a university
  15. present — the time now
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — the earth
  19. present — there
  20. snap — to click
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. present — a gift

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