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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. hand — help
  3. degree — an amount
  4. lean — thin
  5. hand — in cards
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. degree — from a university
  8. squash — to crush
  9. branch — a division
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. degree — temperature
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. scale — in music
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. squash — the sport
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. scale — size or range
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. lean — to bend
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. squash — the vegetable

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