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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. spell — magic
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. spell — letters
  6. kid — to tease
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. foot — a measure
  10. lie — to recline
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cell — in biology
  13. drill — the tool
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. drill — a practice
  16. spell — a short time
  17. drill — army training
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a music group
  22. kid — child
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. degree — an amount

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