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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 116 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. spell — letters
  3. degree — temperature
  4. mug — a cup
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. march — the month
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. spell — magic
  9. degree — an amount
  10. mug — to rob
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. drill — a practice
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. bat — the animal
  16. degree — from a university
  17. drill — army training
  18. stem — to come from
  19. spell — a short time
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. mug — a face
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. drill — the tool
  24. march — music

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