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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. last — to go on
  4. game — a match
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. spell — a short time
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. spell — letters
  12. bass — the fish
  13. last — final
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. bass — low music
  16. bore — to drill
  17. spell — magic
  18. game — wild animals
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. bore — to tire
  21. last — finally
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — from a university

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