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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're almost out of ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pop — soda
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. game — wild animals
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. degree — an amount
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a line of people
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. pop — music
  13. plane — a tool
  14. rash — a series
  15. degree — temperature
  16. pop — to visit
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. rash — hasty
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. pass — a permit
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. game — a match
  24. file — a tool

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