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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. chest — of your body
  4. kid — child
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. squash — to crush
  9. degree — temperature
  10. present — the time now
  11. squash — the sport
  12. degree — from a university
  13. chest — of your body
  14. present — a gift
  15. lie — to recline
  16. chest — a box
  17. drill — a practice
  18. drill — the tool
  19. kid — to tease
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. present — there
  22. drill — army training
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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