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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — a stick
  4. degree — from a university
  5. season — in sport
  6. mark — a trace
  7. spring — of water
  8. mark — a grade
  9. mine — for digging
  10. spring — the season
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. spring — a coil
  15. degree — temperature
  16. staff — employees
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. degree — an amount
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. kid — child
  21. season — of the year
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. kid — to tease
  24. pitcher — a jug

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