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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. charge — a price
  3. kid — child
  4. net — in sport
  5. rock — music
  6. net — for catching
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. net — after costs
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. degree — an amount
  11. land — to come down
  12. charge — in control
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. kid — to tease
  15. hand — help
  16. land — ground
  17. land — a country
  18. charge — electricity
  19. rock — a stone
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. hand — in cards
  23. degree — temperature
  24. rock — to move gently

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