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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. cold — not warm
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. cue — a signal
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. charge — a price
  8. last — to go on
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. cue — a hint
  11. object — to protest
  12. charge — electricity
  13. snap — to click
  14. object — an aim
  15. object — a thing
  16. degree — temperature
  17. last — final
  18. degree — an amount
  19. last — finally
  20. cue — for pool
  21. cold — an illness
  22. charge — in control
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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