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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. mate — a partner
  3. band — a music group
  4. tube — a container
  5. squash — to crush
  6. degree — from a university
  7. tube — the underground
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mate — to breed
  11. band — a ring
  12. snap — to click
  13. ball — a great time
  14. mine — for digging
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. degree — temperature
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. squash — the sport
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. mate — a friend
  24. degree — an amount

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