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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. rash — a series
  3. degree — an amount
  4. land — to come down
  5. scale — in music
  6. degree — from a university
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. cap — of ice
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. track — a path
  11. row — a line
  12. land — a country
  13. track — to keep track
  14. row — to paddle
  15. rash — hasty
  16. stem — to come from
  17. scale — size or range
  18. cap — a hat
  19. land — ground
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cap — a lid
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. track — a song

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