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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. game — wild animals
  3. bass — low music
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — temperature
  7. tube — the underground
  8. cold — not warm
  9. pitch — completely
  10. saw — the tool
  11. bass — the fish
  12. saw — the tool
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. game — a match
  22. tube — a container
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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