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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 116 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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. march — the month
  4. kid — to tease
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. march — music
  7. kid — child
  8. degree — from a university
  9. land — to come down
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. degree — an amount
  13. rash — hasty
  14. march — the month
  15. board — a committee
  16. land — ground
  17. board — to get on
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. sharp — clever
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. land — a country
  23. snap — to click
  24. degree — temperature

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