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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. spring — of water
  3. net — in sport
  4. wind — moving air
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. wind — moving air
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. spring — a coil
  14. pit — a hole
  15. spring — the season
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. degree — from a university
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. net — after costs
  21. bat — the animal
  22. pit — in a race
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. net — for catching

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