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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 are we going to ________________?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. degree — an amount
  3. land — ground
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. degree — from a university
  6. snap — to click
  7. fall — the season
  8. fall — to drop
  9. pound — a weight
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. land — a country
  13. degree — temperature
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. branch — a division
  19. fall — to drop
  20. rush — hurry
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. cold — not warm

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