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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. rash — hasty
  4. degree — temperature
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. game — a match
  7. ground — a position
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. game — wild animals
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. pound — a weight
  15. ground — crushed
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. rash — a series
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. ground — the earth
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — from a university
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. hide — to keep secret

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