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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mate — a friend
  3. lean — to bend
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. lean — thin
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. mate — a partner
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. degree — from a university
  11. saw — the tool
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. mate — to breed
  15. saw — the tool
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. degree — temperature
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. date — the fruit
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. wake — a trail

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