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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. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. current — electric
  3. current — happening now
  4. cue — for pool
  5. spring — the season
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. degree — from a university
  10. spring — of water
  11. tube — a container
  12. spring — a coil
  13. cue — a hint
  14. current — of water
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. tube — the underground
  17. pound — a weight
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cue — a signal
  21. spell — letters
  22. spell — magic
  23. degree — temperature
  24. spell — a short 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