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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 116 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. degree — temperature
  4. hand — in cards
  5. land — a country
  6. degree — from a university
  7. race — a contest
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. race — the arms race
  10. row — to paddle
  11. press — newspapers
  12. land — to come down
  13. press — to push
  14. face — part of the head
  15. hand — help
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. press — a publisher
  18. land — ground
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — the animal
  21. face — to confront
  22. row — a line
  23. race — humankind
  24. face — to point toward

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