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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. spring — a coil
  4. drill — army training
  5. degree — temperature
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. degree — from a university
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. drill — the tool
  11. ball — a great time
  12. spring — of water
  13. drill — a practice
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. ball — a dance
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. mark — a grade
  22. cold — an illness
  23. degree — an amount
  24. spring — the season

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