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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. rest — what's left
  3. march — music
  4. degree — from a university
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. object — to protest
  7. rule — government
  8. rest — what's left
  9. game — wild animals
  10. bass — low music
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — an amount
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. rule — a law
  17. object — a thing
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. game — a match
  20. object — an aim
  21. bass — the fish
  22. mine — for digging
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. rest — a break

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