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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — a stick
  3. wind — moving air
  4. staff — employees
  5. degree — from a university
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pop — to visit
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. chip — to eat
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. degree — temperature
  12. current — of water
  13. pop — music
  14. game — a match
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. current — electric
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. degree — an amount
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. game — wild animals
  23. current — happening now
  24. pop — soda

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