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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. saw — the tool
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. degree — from a university
  7. game — a match
  8. bound — certain
  9. bound — obliged
  10. file — a tool
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. bound — tied together
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. degree — temperature
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. stem — to come from
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — wild animals
  21. file — a line of people
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. saw — the tool
  24. file — a document

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