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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. squash — to crush
  3. lean — to bend
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. ground — a position
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. ground — crushed
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. degree — an amount
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. ground — the earth
  15. squash — the sport
  16. lean — thin
  17. kid — to tease
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. fall — the season
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. kid — child
  22. degree — temperature
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. fall — to drop

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