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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. cold — not warm
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rush — hurry
  5. mug — a cup
  6. march — music
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. degree — from a university
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. degree — temperature
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. cold — an illness
  14. spell — letters
  15. mug — a face
  16. march — the month
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. spell — magic
  19. spell — a short time
  20. rash — hasty
  21. pitch — completely
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. rash — a series
  24. march — the month

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