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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bound — obliged
  3. firm — decided
  4. firm — steady
  5. perch — the fish
  6. wound — an injury
  7. mate — a friend
  8. squash — to crush
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — a match
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. squash — the sport
  13. firm — a company
  14. bound — tied together
  15. wound — an injury
  16. degree — temperature
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. mate — to breed
  19. mate — a partner
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bound — certain
  23. game — wild animals
  24. perch — for a bird

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