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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 116 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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. mate — a partner
  3. squash — the sport
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. tear — from crying
  7. spring — a coil
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. rush — hurry
  10. mate — a friend
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. squash — to crush
  13. tear — to rip
  14. spring — the season
  15. charge — in control
  16. tear — from crying
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. spring — of water
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. charge — a price
  21. charge — electricity
  22. rule — a law
  23. rule — government
  24. mate — to breed

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