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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — of water
  5. march — the month
  6. deal — to handle
  7. degree — an amount
  8. content — happy
  9. march — the month
  10. staff — employees
  11. degree — from a university
  12. spring — the season
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. march — music
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. staff — a stick
  18. content — the amount
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. bass — the fish
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. bass — low music
  23. degree — temperature
  24. deal — a big deal

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