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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. last — finally
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. key — the most important part
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. drill — a practice
  10. drill — the tool
  11. drill — army training
  12. degree — temperature
  13. game — a match
  14. last — to go on
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. game — wild animals
  21. key — for a lock
  22. last — final
  23. key — in music
  24. degree — from a university

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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