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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. degree — from a university
  3. rock — music
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. march — music
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. tear — from crying
  9. degree — temperature
  10. snap — to click
  11. tear — from crying
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. tear — to rip
  14. degree — an amount
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. game — a match
  18. hand — help
  19. rash — a series
  20. march — the month
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. hand — in cards
  23. rock — a stone
  24. game — wild animals

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