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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. rock — music
  3. degree — from a university
  4. rock — a stone
  5. ball — a dance
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. plane — a tool
  10. mark — a grade
  11. mark — a trace
  12. fork — in a road
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. rash — hasty
  15. cold — an illness
  16. degree — temperature
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. degree — an amount
  19. rash — a series
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. ball — a great time

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