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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. bass — the fish
  3. track — to keep track
  4. degree — from a university
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. kid — to tease
  7. degree — temperature
  8. bore — to drill
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. track — a path
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. mine — for digging
  13. toast — bread
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. kid — child
  16. bass — low music
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. degree — an amount
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. bore — to tire

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