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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. shower — rain
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. court — for sport
  5. pitch — completely
  6. degree — an amount
  7. band — a music group
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. court — of law
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. fork — in a road
  13. mate — a partner
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. band — a ring
  18. mate — a friend
  19. court — of a king
  20. saw — the tool
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — to wash
  23. saw — the tool
  24. fork — to eat with

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