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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. staff — employees
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. wake — a trail
  8. staff — employees
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. pop — soda
  11. degree — from a university
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. sharp — clever
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. pop — to visit
  16. bore — to tire
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. kid — child
  19. bore — to drill
  20. degree — an amount
  21. staff — a stick
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. pop — music
  24. cabinet — ministers

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