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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. ball — a dance
  3. bear — the animal
  4. ball — a great time
  5. scale — in music
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. degree — an amount
  12. scale — size or range
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. degree — from a university
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bear — the animal
  18. row — a line

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