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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. degree — from a university
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. scale — in music
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wound — an injury
  8. fall — to drop
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. fall — the season
  11. sharp — clever
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. fall — to drop
  14. hand — in cards
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. wound — an injury
  18. scale — size or range
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. ground — a position
  21. degree — an amount
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. hand — help
  24. degree — temperature

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