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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. degree — an amount
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. hand — in cards
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. pound — a weight
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. hand — help
  10. pit — in a race
  11. file — a line of people
  12. foot — a measure
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. degree — from a university
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. pit — a hole
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. snap — to click
  19. file — a document
  20. land — to come down
  21. file — a tool
  22. land — ground
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. degree — temperature

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