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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mark — a grade
  4. ball — a great time
  5. rest — what's left
  6. present — a gift
  7. cold — not warm
  8. present — the time now
  9. mark — a trace
  10. cold — an illness
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. degree — an amount
  14. rest — a break
  15. fall — to drop
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. rest — what's left
  20. fall — the season
  21. present — there
  22. ball — a dance
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. fall — to drop

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