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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. chip — for betting
  6. chip — to eat
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. pitch — completely
  9. spell — a short time
  10. spell — magic
  11. spell — letters
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. degree — an amount
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. degree — temperature
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. degree — from a university
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. pitcher — a jug

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