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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. land — a country
  3. track — a song
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. degree — temperature
  6. squash — the sport
  7. land — ground
  8. squash — to crush
  9. face — to point toward
  10. face — part of the head
  11. track — to keep track
  12. cell — a phone
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. cell — in biology
  16. deal — to handle
  17. face — to confront
  18. degree — an amount
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. land — to come down
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cell — in a prison

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