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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. land — ground
  3. ball — a dance
  4. wound — an injury
  5. shower — to wash
  6. press — to push
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. press — newspapers
  11. land — a country
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. degree — from a university
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. deal — to handle
  18. wound — an injury
  19. press — a publisher
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. shower — rain
  22. ball — a great time
  23. land — to come down
  24. degree — an amount

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