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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 124 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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. squash — to crush
  3. degree — an amount
  4. land — a country
  5. pop — music
  6. file — a tool
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. degree — temperature
  10. squash — the sport
  11. land — ground
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. degree — from a university
  14. file — a document
  15. pop — soda
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rash — a series
  18. land — to come down
  19. file — a line of people
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. pop — to visit
  24. mark — a trace

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