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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 116 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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. degree — an amount
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — in cards
  6. wound — an injury
  7. pit — in a race
  8. current — electric
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. stem — to come from
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. degree — from a university
  14. current — happening now
  15. pit — a hole
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wound — an injury
  18. game — a match
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. current — of water
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. game — wild animals
  24. hand — part of the body

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