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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. deal — to handle
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. game — a match
  5. track — a path
  6. degree — an amount
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. rash — a series
  12. track — to keep track
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. track — a song
  15. rash — hasty
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. degree — from a university
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. degree — temperature
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. game — wild animals
  24. game — a kind of play

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