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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. season — in sport
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. game — a match
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. kid — child
  10. season — of the year
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. fine — high quality
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. kid — to tease
  15. degree — temperature
  16. cell — in biology
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. game — wild animals
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cell — a phone
  24. degree — an amount

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