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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. present — there
  3. degree — from a university
  4. present — the time now
  5. pop — soda
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. present — a gift
  8. wind — moving air
  9. row — to paddle
  10. degree — an amount
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. mine — for digging
  13. pitch — completely
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pop — to visit
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. wind — moving air
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. pop — music
  22. cell — a phone
  23. degree — temperature
  24. mine — an explosive

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