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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 120 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. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. firm — decided
  3. mine — for digging
  4. kid — to tease
  5. rest — a break
  6. firm — steady
  7. degree — temperature
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. degree — from a university
  12. march — music
  13. rest — what's left
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. march — the month
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. firm — a company
  21. kid — child
  22. march — the month
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. rest — what's left

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