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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. degree — an amount
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. degree — from a university
  6. key — the most important part
  7. spell — magic
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. bat — the animal
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. key — in music
  17. key — for a lock
  18. degree — temperature
  19. game — wild animals
  20. game — a match
  21. deal — to handle
  22. spell — letters
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. spell — a short time

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