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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 124 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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. kick — in football
  3. degree — temperature
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. foot — a measure
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. rule — government
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. cold — not warm
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. snap — to click
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. rule — a law
  19. degree — an amount
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. wake — a trail
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bat — the animal

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