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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. firm — a company
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — magic
  5. ground — a position
  6. degree — from a university
  7. firm — decided
  8. ground — the earth
  9. toast — bread
  10. land — ground
  11. degree — an amount
  12. rest — a break
  13. rest — what's left
  14. ground — crushed
  15. firm — steady
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. rule — a law
  18. degree — temperature
  19. land — to come down
  20. rest — what's left
  21. spell — a short time
  22. rule — government
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. land — a country

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