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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. land — a country
  7. lean — to bend
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. land — ground
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. cold — an illness
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. board — a committee
  15. cold — not warm
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. stem — to come from
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. land — to come down
  21. lean — thin
  22. sharp — clever
  23. board — to get on
  24. date — the fruit

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