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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. degree — from a university
  3. march — the month
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. bass — low music
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. can — to be able to
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. march — music
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. degree — temperature
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. net — in sport
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. can — a tin
  16. can — a tin
  17. net — after costs
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. bass — the fish
  20. march — the month
  21. degree — an amount
  22. net — for catching
  23. kid — child
  24. racket — a loud noise

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