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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. staff — employees
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. staff — a stick
  7. degree — temperature
  8. hand — help
  9. file — a tool
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. squash — the sport
  14. staff — employees
  15. pitch — completely
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a document
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. squash — to crush
  24. hand — in cards

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