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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 116 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. land — a country
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. march — the month
  8. land — to come down
  9. wind — moving air
  10. firm — a company
  11. rush — hurry
  12. chip — to eat
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — temperature
  15. land — ground
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. firm — steady
  21. march — the month
  22. chip — for betting
  23. firm — decided
  24. march — music

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