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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  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. toast — a drink to someone
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. pop — music
  4. degree — from a university
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. game — wild animals
  7. toast — bread
  8. pop — to visit
  9. last — finally
  10. game — a match
  11. sharp — clever
  12. degree — temperature
  13. cell — a phone
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. pop — soda
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. last — to go on
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. cell — in biology
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. last — final
  23. sharp — with an edge
  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