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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 120 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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. pop — soda
  4. sharp — clever
  5. rest — what's left
  6. degree — an amount
  7. pop — to visit
  8. wake — a trail
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. march — music
  12. track — a path
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. march — the month
  15. pop — music
  16. rest — a break
  17. degree — from a university
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. track — a song
  20. track — to keep track
  21. degree — temperature
  22. march — the month
  23. rest — what's left
  24. sharp — exactly

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