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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. land — a country
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. ground — crushed
  6. kid — child
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. degree — an amount
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. fork — in a road
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. kid — to tease
  13. roll — a list
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. degree — from a university
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. ground — a position
  18. pass — a permit
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. deal — to handle
  21. land — ground
  22. ground — the earth
  23. degree — temperature
  24. roll — a cake

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