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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. shower — to wash
  3. vault — a safe
  4. land — to come down
  5. degree — from a university
  6. land — a country
  7. present — a gift
  8. fine — high quality
  9. fine — all right
  10. wind — moving air
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. shower — rain
  14. present — the time now
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. degree — an amount
  19. present — there
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. land — ground
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. patient — a sick person

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