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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. pop — soda
  3. mark — a trace
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — an amount
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. fall — to drop
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. march — the month
  11. rush — hurry
  12. club — for dancing
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. mark — a grade
  15. fall — the season
  16. fall — to drop
  17. march — music
  18. pop — to visit
  19. wound — an injury
  20. march — the month
  21. club — a group
  22. wound — an injury
  23. degree — from a university
  24. pop — music

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