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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. shower — to wash
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. ground — a position
  6. land — ground
  7. degree — from a university
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — for paper
  10. land — a country
  11. bat — the animal
  12. clip — a video
  13. mug — a cup
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. land — to come down
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — crushed
  19. mug — a face
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. degree — an amount
  22. degree — temperature
  23. shower — rain
  24. mug — to rob

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