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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. saw — the tool
  3. pop — soda
  4. pop — music
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. kick — in football
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. degree — an amount
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. board — a committee
  13. degree — from a university
  14. pop — to visit
  15. board — to get on
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. snap — to click
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. saw — the tool

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