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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. degree — from a university
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. spell — a short time
  10. date — the fruit
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. spell — letters
  14. spell — magic
  15. lie — to recline
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. fork — in a road
  18. degree — temperature
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. lean — to bend
  23. wind — moving air
  24. lean — thin

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