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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  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 — an amount
  2. charge — electricity
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rush — hurry
  5. march — the month
  6. spell — letters
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. spell — a short time
  9. charge — a price
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. degree — temperature
  12. charge — in control
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. snap — to click
  18. spring — of water
  19. spell — magic
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. march — music
  22. degree — from a university
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  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