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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. game — a match
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — wild animals
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cue — a hint
  9. cue — for pool
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. pop — music
  13. degree — temperature
  14. pop — soda
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. pop — to visit
  17. degree — an amount
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. date — the fruit
  21. clip — for paper
  22. degree — from a university
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. cue — a signal

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