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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. fine — high quality
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. land — a country
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. bore — to tire
  9. kid — child
  10. march — the month
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. land — ground
  13. land — to come down
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. fine — all right
  16. degree — temperature
  17. march — music
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. pass — a permit
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. bore — to drill
  23. kid — to tease
  24. march — the month

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