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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. degree — an amount
  3. mate — a partner
  4. prune — to trim
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. degree — temperature
  7. mate — to breed
  8. chest — of your body
  9. prune — to trim
  10. key — the most important part
  11. club — a group
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. mate — a friend
  15. bound — obliged
  16. key — in music
  17. degree — from a university
  18. key — for a lock
  19. bound — certain
  20. chest — a box
  21. rush — hurry
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bound — tied together
  24. club — for dancing

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