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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. mine — for digging
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. drill — army training
  7. drill — a practice
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. degree — an amount
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. charge — electricity
  14. degree — from a university
  15. drill — the tool
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. charge — in control
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. date — the fruit
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. wake — a trail
  22. charge — a price
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. degree — temperature

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