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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  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. game — a match
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. wind — moving air
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. net — after costs
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. net — for catching
  8. net — in sport
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — a break
  12. hand — help
  13. rest — what's left
  14. degree — temperature
  15. game — wild animals
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. hand — in cards
  18. scale — size or range
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. scale — in music
  23. wind — moving air
  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