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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. bank — for money
  4. wake — a trail
  5. ball — a great time
  6. bank — for money
  7. rash — a series
  8. degree — temperature
  9. tear — from crying
  10. ball — a dance
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. pit — in a race
  15. rash — hasty
  16. plane — a tool
  17. pit — a hole
  18. degree — an amount
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bank — of a river
  21. tear — to rip
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. plane — an aircraft

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