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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. chip — for betting
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pit — in a race
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pit — a hole
  13. spell — letters
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. spell — a short time
  16. chip — to eat
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. degree — from a university
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. degree — temperature
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. spell — magic

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