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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. degree — an amount
  4. game — wild animals
  5. scale — size or range
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. fall — to drop
  12. game — a match
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. fall — the season
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — temperature
  17. face — to confront
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. scale — in music
  20. face — to point toward
  21. face — part of the head
  22. chair — a leader
  23. fall — to drop
  24. chair — to sit on

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