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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. drill — the tool
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. rash — hasty
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — a coil
  8. ball — a dance
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. wake — a trail
  11. drill — army training
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to click
  14. ball — a great time
  15. mark — a grade
  16. mark — a trace
  17. drill — a practice
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. spring — the season
  20. degree — temperature
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. rash — a series
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — an amount

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