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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. track — to keep track
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rash — a series
  6. chest — a box
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. swing — to play on
  9. swing — music
  10. net — in sport
  11. shower — to wash
  12. chest — of your body
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — an amount
  15. track — a song
  16. swing — in golf
  17. rash — hasty
  18. chest — of your body
  19. net — after costs
  20. net — for catching
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. shower — rain
  23. track — a path
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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