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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. ball — a great time
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bulb — for light
  5. degree — an amount
  6. degree — from a university
  7. ball — a dance
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — wild animals
  10. row — to paddle
  11. root — of a word
  12. game — a match
  13. bulb — for light
  14. root — the cause
  15. kid — child
  16. root — of a plant
  17. row — a line
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. can — a tin
  20. degree — temperature
  21. can — to be able to
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. can — a tin
  24. bulb — of a plant

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