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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bank — for money
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. rash — a series
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. fork — in a road
  8. degree — an amount
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. march — music
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. scale — size or range
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. scale — in music
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bank — of a river
  19. bank — for money
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. fork — to eat with

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