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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. degree — an amount
  3. tear — to rip
  4. march — the month
  5. tear — from crying
  6. degree — temperature
  7. march — the month
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. current — of water
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. kick — in football
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. degree — from a university
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. march — music
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. tear — from crying
  21. mine — for digging
  22. current — electric
  23. game — wild animals
  24. current — happening now

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