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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. stand — to bear
  3. pop — soda
  4. squash — the sport
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. foot — a measure
  9. wind — moving air
  10. file — a line of people
  11. degree — temperature
  12. wind — moving air
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. squash — to crush
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. pop — to visit
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a tool
  24. pop — music

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