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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  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. hand — in cards
  2. present — the time now
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — help
  5. cold — not warm
  6. key — the most important part
  7. file — a tool
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. degree — an amount
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. file — a line of people
  15. key — for a lock
  16. scale — size or range
  17. degree — from a university
  18. scale — in music
  19. present — there
  20. file — a document
  21. present — a gift
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. key — in music
  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