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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 120 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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. march — the month
  3. ball — a great time
  4. bear — the animal
  5. mate — a friend
  6. mate — a partner
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. march — music
  9. tube — the underground
  10. ball — a dance
  11. degree — from a university
  12. mate — to breed
  13. game — a match
  14. degree — temperature
  15. pop — music
  16. pop — to visit
  17. tube — a container
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. degree — an amount
  22. game — wild animals
  23. bear — the animal
  24. march — the month

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