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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 116 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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. staff — a stick
  3. last — final
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. last — finally
  6. sharp — clever
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. net — for catching
  10. snap — to click
  11. net — after costs
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. last — to go on
  15. staff — employees
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. staff — employees
  18. net — in sport
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. squash — the sport
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. squash — to crush
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — temperature

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