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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. squash — the sport
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. march — the month
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. mate — a partner
  11. rush — hurry
  12. bat — the animal
  13. squash — to crush
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. mate — to breed
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. degree — from a university
  19. spell — a short time
  20. spell — letters
  21. spell — magic
  22. mate — a friend
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. degree — temperature

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