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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cue · fall · degree · wound · racket · stick · squash · land

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. degree — an amount
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. degree — from a university
  6. cue — for pool
  7. wound — an injury
  8. land — to come down
  9. fall — the season
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. cue — a signal
  12. degree — temperature
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. land — ground
  15. squash — the sport
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. land — a country
  21. wound — an injury
  22. squash — to crush
  23. fall — to drop
  24. cue — a hint

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