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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. sharp — clever
  4. bear — the animal
  5. key — for a lock
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. degree — temperature
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. key — in music
  12. cell — a phone
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. degree — from a university
  16. key — the most important part
  17. wake — a trail
  18. march — music
  19. degree — an amount
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. cell — in biology
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. cell — in a prison

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