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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. last — finally
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. ground — a position
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. last — final
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cap — of ice
  10. degree — from a university
  11. ground — the earth
  12. fork — in a road
  13. last — to go on
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a line of people
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. degree — temperature
  18. file — a tool
  19. deal — to handle
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cap — a lid
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. ground — crushed

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