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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. chest — of your body
  3. ball — a dance
  4. drill — army training
  5. drill — the tool
  6. net — after costs
  7. mug — a face
  8. root — of a word
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. ball — a great time
  11. mug — to rob
  12. chest — a box
  13. degree — temperature
  14. net — for catching
  15. mug — a cup
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. root — the cause
  18. branch — a division
  19. net — in sport
  20. chest — of your body
  21. root — of a plant
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. degree — an amount
  24. drill — a practice

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