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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. mate — a partner
  4. rock — a stone
  5. degree — an amount
  6. wound — an injury
  7. net — for catching
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. net — after costs
  10. mate — to breed
  11. degree — from a university
  12. track — a song
  13. degree — temperature
  14. net — in sport
  15. track — to keep track
  16. track — a path
  17. wound — an injury
  18. rock — music

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