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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 124 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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. degree — temperature
  3. last — final
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. rush — hurry
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. game — a match
  8. game — wild animals
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. bat — the animal
  11. degree — from a university
  12. last — to go on
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. firm — decided
  15. rest — a break
  16. firm — steady
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. rest — what's left
  19. firm — a company
  20. rest — what's left
  21. last — finally
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. degree — an amount
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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