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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pop — music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. pop — to visit
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — a position
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. lean — to bend
  14. pop — soda
  15. ground — the earth
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. march — the month
  18. lean — thin
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. object — an aim
  22. degree — an amount
  23. object — a thing
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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