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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. kid — to tease
  3. scale — size or range
  4. degree — from a university
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. squash — the sport
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. rest — what's left
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. mark — a trace
  13. squash — to crush
  14. scale — in music
  15. kid — child
  16. degree — temperature
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. degree — an amount
  22. mark — a grade
  23. rest — what's left
  24. fall — to drop

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