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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. current — happening now
  3. current — of water
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. cell — in biology
  7. kid — to tease
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. chest — of your body
  12. degree — from a university
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. kid — child
  15. game — wild animals
  16. degree — an amount
  17. cell — a phone
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. degree — temperature
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — a box
  23. current — electric
  24. game — a match

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