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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 120 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. lean — thin
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. lean — to bend
  8. last — finally
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. last — final
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. shower — rain
  14. degree — from a university
  15. pop — music
  16. last — to go on
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. sharp — clever
  19. pop — to visit
  20. degree — an amount
  21. pop — soda
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — for digging
  24. shower — to wash

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