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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. pop — to visit
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a line of people
  9. squash — the sport
  10. pop — music
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. squash — to crush
  13. date — the fruit
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. drill — army training
  16. rest — what's left
  17. file — a tool
  18. drill — the tool
  19. pop — soda
  20. rest — what's left
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. degree — temperature
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. drill — a practice

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