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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. land — to come down
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. foot — a measure
  8. game — wild animals
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. bound — obliged
  13. game — a match
  14. degree — temperature
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. bound — certain
  17. fall — to drop
  18. land — a country
  19. land — ground
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. fall — to drop
  22. pitch — completely
  23. fall — the season
  24. degree — from a university

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