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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. degree — temperature
  3. chip — to eat
  4. snap — to click
  5. tube — the underground
  6. face — to point toward
  7. chip — for betting
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. degree — an amount
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. fork — in a road
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. face — to confront
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. face — part of the head
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. squash — to crush
  18. cold — an illness
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. degree — from a university
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. cold — not warm
  24. squash — the sport

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