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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. degree — from a university
  3. spell — letters
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. pop — soda
  6. rash — hasty
  7. degree — temperature
  8. pound — a weight
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. saw — the tool
  11. spell — magic
  12. hand — in cards
  13. degree — an amount
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. saw — the tool
  17. spell — a short time
  18. pop — to visit
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. hand — help
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. rash — a series

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