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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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. degree — an amount
  3. ground — crushed
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. ground — a position
  7. current — of water
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — after costs
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. current — electric
  12. game — a match
  13. game — wild animals
  14. tear — from crying
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. ground — the earth
  17. tear — to rip
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. net — in sport
  21. tear — from crying
  22. branch — a division
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — temperature

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