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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. degree — an amount
  3. net — in sport
  4. spell — a short time
  5. net — for catching
  6. file — a tool
  7. spell — letters
  8. degree — temperature
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. court — for sport
  11. court — of a king
  12. file — a document
  13. spell — magic
  14. degree — from a university
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. file — a line of people
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — the animal
  21. mate — a partner
  22. net — after costs
  23. court — of law
  24. mate — to breed

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