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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. cell — in biology
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. ground — crushed
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. ground — the earth
  7. bear — the animal
  8. game — a match
  9. bear — the animal
  10. ground — a position
  11. cell — a phone
  12. shower — rain
  13. track — a path
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. degree — temperature
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. track — a song
  18. game — wild animals
  19. track — to keep track
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. degree — an amount
  24. degree — from a university

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