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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. degree — an amount
  3. cue — a signal
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. club — a group
  8. march — the month
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. sharp — clever
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. cue — for pool
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. club — for dancing
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — for paper
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. cue — a hint
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. club — for golf
  22. march — music
  23. rush — hurry
  24. march — the month

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