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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. degree — from a university
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. degree — temperature
  7. last — final
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. last — to go on
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. lie — to recline
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. last — finally
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. spell — a short time
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. spell — letters
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. spell — magic

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