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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. can — a tin
  5. spring — a coil
  6. kid — child
  7. kid — to tease
  8. can — to be able to
  9. last — to go on
  10. degree — an amount
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. wound — an injury
  13. can — a tin
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. wound — an injury
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. spring — the season
  18. last — final
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. spring — of water
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. degree — temperature
  24. temple — side of the head

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