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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wake — a trail
  3. staff — employees
  4. degree — temperature
  5. bear — the animal
  6. chest — a box
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. cue — a hint
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cue — a signal
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. staff — a stick
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. cue — for pool
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. kid — to tease
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. kid — child
  19. mine — for digging
  20. bear — the animal
  21. staff — employees
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. chest — of your body
  24. degree — from a university

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