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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. mate — a partner
  3. current — happening now
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. court — of a king
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. kid — child
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. chest — of your body
  12. court — of law
  13. mate — a friend
  14. degree — from a university
  15. mate — to breed
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. degree — an amount
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. court — for sport
  21. current — of water
  22. degree — temperature
  23. kid — to tease
  24. current — electric

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