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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. scale — in music
  3. degree — from a university
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. staff — a stick
  6. degree — an amount
  7. rule — a law
  8. cold — not warm
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. staff — employees
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. cold — an illness
  18. degree — temperature
  19. staff — employees
  20. rule — government
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. scale — size or range
  24. cold — the Cold War

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