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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. degree — an amount
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. pop — music
  5. squash — the sport
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. dip — to sink
  8. squash — to crush
  9. track — to keep track
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. pop — to visit
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. kick — in football
  14. sharp — clever
  15. band — a ring
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. track — a song
  19. pop — soda
  20. degree — temperature
  21. track — a path
  22. degree — from a university
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. band — a music group

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