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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 120 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. degree — an amount
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. drill — the tool
  8. kick — in football
  9. pitch — completely
  10. mine — for digging
  11. rock — music
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. drill — a practice
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bear — the animal
  16. rock — a stone
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. bear — the animal
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. kid — child
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. drill — army training
  24. degree — temperature

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