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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. band — a music group
  3. kid — child
  4. can — a tin
  5. game — a match
  6. roll — a cake
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. cue — a signal
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. cue — for pool
  14. cue — a hint
  15. game — wild animals
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. kid — to tease
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — an amount
  21. band — a ring
  22. can — a tin
  23. degree — temperature
  24. roll — a list

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