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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. rule — a law
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. sharp — clever
  7. fall — to drop
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. club — for dancing
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. fall — to drop
  14. degree — an amount
  15. club — for golf
  16. fall — the season
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — rain
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. rule — government
  24. club — a group

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