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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cell — a phone
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. cold — not warm
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. stand — to bear
  11. kick — in football
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. degree — from a university
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. cold — an illness
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. degree — an amount
  22. cell — in biology
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. kick — with a leg

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