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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  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. present — a gift
  2. staff — employees
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. rock — music
  5. drill — a practice
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — army training
  8. shower — rain
  9. shower — to wash
  10. rock — a stone
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — a stick
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. wake — a trail
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a match
  17. present — there
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. present — the time now
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  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