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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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. cue — a signal
  3. staff — a stick
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. degree — temperature
  7. staff — employees
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. degree — an amount
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. cue — for pool
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. vault — a safe
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mine — for digging
  19. cue — a hint
  20. shower — rain
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. staff — employees

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