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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. degree — temperature
  4. roll — a cake
  5. degree — an amount
  6. game — a match
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. file — a line of people
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. degree — from a university
  11. toast — bread
  12. plane — a tool
  13. file — a document
  14. chest — a box
  15. roll — a list
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. chest — of your body
  22. file — a tool
  23. chest — of your body
  24. foot — a measure

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