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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. degree — temperature
  3. game — a match
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. pop — to visit
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pop — soda
  8. mate — a friend
  9. mate — to breed
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. chest — a box
  12. track — to keep track
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pop — music
  16. track — a song
  17. wind — moving air
  18. degree — an amount
  19. mate — a partner
  20. chest — of your body
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wake — a trail
  23. chest — of your body
  24. track — a path

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