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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. can — a tin
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rock — a stone
  9. wake — a trail
  10. bound — certain
  11. can — to be able to
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. rock — music
  14. bound — tied together
  15. drill — the tool
  16. drill — a practice
  17. cold — an illness
  18. can — a tin
  19. drill — army training
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bound — obliged
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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