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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. board — to get on
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. tear — from crying
  5. ground — crushed
  6. tear — from crying
  7. fall — the season
  8. ground — a position
  9. tear — to rip
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. game — wild animals
  12. bulb — for light
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. degree — temperature
  16. fall — to drop
  17. game — a match
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. degree — from a university
  20. bulb — for light
  21. board — a committee
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. fall — to drop
  24. ground — the earth

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