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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. track — a path
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. fine — all right
  5. fine — high quality
  6. hand — help
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — an amount
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. hand — in cards
  12. track — a song
  13. drill — the tool
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. cold — an illness
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. drill — army training
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. degree — temperature
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. stem — to come from
  24. track — to keep track

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