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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. wind — moving air
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. rule — a law
  6. mug — to rob
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. degree — an amount
  9. mug — a face
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. court — for sport
  13. rule — government
  14. degree — from a university
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. court — of law
  18. mug — a cup
  19. court — of a king
  20. wind — moving air
  21. degree — temperature
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. bat — the animal

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