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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. bound — obliged
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. kid — child
  6. key — for a lock
  7. spring — the season
  8. degree — temperature
  9. wax — to grow
  10. squash — the sport
  11. degree — from a university
  12. squash — to crush
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bound — certain
  15. bound — tied together
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. key — the most important part
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. key — in music
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. spring — of water
  22. kid — to tease
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. squash — the vegetable

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