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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. land — a country
  3. season — in sport
  4. pound — a weight
  5. game — wild animals
  6. season — of the year
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — an amount
  10. land — ground
  11. net — after costs
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. bat — the animal
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. net — in sport
  16. land — to come down
  17. net — for catching
  18. fall — to drop
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. fall — to drop
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. degree — from a university
  24. fall — the season

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