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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — an amount
  4. chest — of your body
  5. lie — to recline
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. bore — to drill
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. ball — a dance
  11. degree — temperature
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. shower — rain
  16. bore — to tire
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. shower — to wash
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. chest — a box
  21. chest — of your body
  22. ball — a great time
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. mouse — the animal

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