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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 116 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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  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. degree — from a university
  2. mug — a face
  3. mate — a partner
  4. march — the month
  5. bass — low music
  6. mug — to rob
  7. land — ground
  8. spell — magic
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — a country
  11. march — music
  12. degree — temperature
  13. spell — letters
  14. track — to keep track
  15. mug — a cup
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. mate — a friend
  18. track — a path
  19. mate — to breed
  20. bass — the fish
  21. spell — a short time
  22. track — a song
  23. degree — an amount
  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