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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 124 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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Word bank
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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: mouse · cap · land · ground · row · snap · lie · degree

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. ground — a position
  4. cap — a hat
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. degree — an amount
  7. snap — to click
  8. row — a line
  9. cap — of ice
  10. land — ground
  11. ground — crushed
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. land — to come down
  14. lie — to recline
  15. degree — from a university
  16. mouse — for a computer
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. land — a country
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. degree — temperature
  22. ground — the earth
  23. cap — a lid
  24. mouse — the animal

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