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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. charge — electricity
  4. kid — to tease
  5. rash — hasty
  6. kid — child
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. cold — not warm
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. degree — from a university
  11. rash — a series
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. degree — temperature
  16. season — of the year
  17. deal — to handle
  18. scale — size or range
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. season — in sport
  21. charge — a price
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. scale — in music
  24. charge — in control

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