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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. spring — of water
  3. ground — a position
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. squash — to crush
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spring — a coil
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — the earth
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bass — the fish
  13. rash — hasty
  14. bass — low music
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. squash — the sport
  19. spring — the season
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. bore — to drill
  22. rash — a series
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bat — the animal

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