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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. degree — temperature
  3. land — ground
  4. cue — a hint
  5. march — music
  6. degree — an amount
  7. object — a thing
  8. file — a tool
  9. object — an aim
  10. file — a line of people
  11. cue — for pool
  12. land — a country
  13. face — part of the head
  14. face — to point toward
  15. object — to protest
  16. degree — from a university
  17. march — the month
  18. chip — to eat
  19. face — to confront
  20. chip — for betting
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. march — the month
  23. file — a document
  24. land — to come down

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