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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 116 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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. track — to keep track
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. track — a path
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cold — not warm
  8. tear — from crying
  9. present — there
  10. game — wild animals
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. degree — from a university
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. degree — an amount
  17. present — the time now
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. tear — to rip
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. present — a gift
  22. cold — an illness
  23. track — a song
  24. game — a match

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