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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. row — a line
  3. ball — a dance
  4. degree — temperature
  5. face — to point toward
  6. club — a group
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. degree — an amount
  9. mug — a face
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. kid — to tease
  12. club — for dancing
  13. mug — a cup
  14. face — to confront
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. wind — moving air
  17. degree — from a university
  18. ball — a great time
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. row — to paddle
  21. face — part of the head
  22. kid — child
  23. wind — moving air
  24. club — for golf

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