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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. degree — from a university
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. cap — a lid
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cap — a hat
  12. pop — soda
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. snap — to click
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. cap — of ice
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. pop — music
  20. game — wild animals
  21. pop — to visit
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. degree — an amount

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