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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  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. lean — to bend
  2. wound — an injury
  3. key — the most important part
  4. cold — not warm
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. degree — temperature
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. degree — an amount
  10. lean — thin
  11. scale — in music
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — an illness
  14. key — for a lock
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. ball — a great time
  18. scale — size or range
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. wound — an injury
  21. key — in music
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. ball — a dance
  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