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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. spring — a coil
  3. rest — a break
  4. pop — to visit
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. can — a tin
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. rash — hasty
  9. spring — of water
  10. file — a document
  11. pop — music
  12. can — a tin
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. rest — what's left
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. pop — soda
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a line of people
  19. degree — from a university
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rash — a series
  22. spring — the season
  23. degree — temperature
  24. can — to be able to

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