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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. game — wild animals
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. degree — from a university
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. current — of water
  7. net — in sport
  8. cap — a hat
  9. snap — to click
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. net — after costs
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cap — of ice
  15. mark — a trace
  16. net — for catching
  17. current — electric
  18. kid — child
  19. current — happening now
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. game — a match
  22. mark — a grade
  23. cap — a lid
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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