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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. foot — a measure
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. snap — to click
  9. degree — from a university
  10. march — the month
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. march — the month
  13. key — in music
  14. wake — a trail
  15. key — for a lock
  16. key — the most important part
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. march — music
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. degree — temperature
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. deal — to handle
  24. wake — before a funeral

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