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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — the earth
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rash — hasty
  5. degree — temperature
  6. rash — a series
  7. scale — in music
  8. net — after costs
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. net — in sport
  11. ground — a position
  12. degree — from a university
  13. net — for catching
  14. scale — size or range
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — a leader
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. scale — for weighing

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