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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bulb — for light
  3. dip — to sink
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — a partner
  6. degree — from a university
  7. march — music
  8. degree — temperature
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. scale — in music
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bulb — for light
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. scale — size or range
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wound — an injury
  18. march — the month
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. degree — an amount
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. mate — to breed
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. march — the month

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