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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. club — for golf
  6. wind — moving air
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. wind — moving air
  9. staff — employees
  10. face — to confront
  11. tube — the underground
  12. tube — a container
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. face — to point toward
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. club — a group
  17. game — wild animals
  18. club — for dancing
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. face — part of the head
  21. degree — an amount
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. staff — employees
  24. staff — a stick

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