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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. degree — from a university
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. present — a gift
  8. degree — an amount
  9. game — a match
  10. bulb — for light
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — size or range
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — wild animals
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. bulb — for light
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. present — there
  23. present — the time now
  24. degree — temperature

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