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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  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. cap — of ice
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. pass — a permit
  4. degree — from a university
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — the season
  7. chest — of your body
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. degree — an amount
  11. pound — a weight
  12. chest — a box
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cap — a hat
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. mine — for digging
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a match
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. cap — a lid
  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