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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. tube — a container
  3. spring — a coil
  4. sharp — clever
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. current — electric
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. spring — of water
  12. current — happening now
  13. tube — the underground
  14. current — of water
  15. spring — the season
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. wind — moving air
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — from a university

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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