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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. degree — an amount
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. mate — a friend
  7. bore — to tire
  8. mate — a partner
  9. club — for golf
  10. degree — from a university
  11. last — to go on
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. last — final
  15. mate — to breed
  16. last — finally
  17. club — a group
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. snap — to click
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. bore — to drill
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. degree — temperature

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