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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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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. degree — an amount
  3. game — a match
  4. firm — a company
  5. spring — of water
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bore — to drill
  8. game — wild animals
  9. face — to confront
  10. file — a document
  11. face — to point toward
  12. firm — decided
  13. rock — a stone
  14. file — a line of people
  15. degree — temperature
  16. file — a tool
  17. face — part of the head
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — a coil
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. firm — steady
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bore — gave birth

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