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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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468
Word bank
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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. fine — all right
  3. kick — in football
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. band — a music group
  8. degree — temperature
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. scale — size or range
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. game — a match
  15. game — wild animals
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. fine — high quality
  21. band — a ring
  22. degree — from a university
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. scale — in music

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