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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 sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. degree — from a university
  4. march — the month
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. date — the fruit
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. stem — to come from
  12. key — in music
  13. march — the month
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. key — for a lock
  16. cold — an illness
  17. degree — temperature
  18. wind — moving air
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. wind — moving air
  21. march — music
  22. key — the most important part
  23. degree — an amount
  24. stem — of a plant

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