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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.

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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bound — certain
  4. rash — a series
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. kick — in football
  8. mate — a friend
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. mate — a partner
  12. rash — hasty
  13. bound — tied together
  14. degree — temperature
  15. spring — the season
  16. pit — in a race
  17. mate — to breed
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. pit — a hole
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. bound — obliged
  24. rash — on the skin

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