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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. march — the month
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. degree — from a university
  6. cap — of ice
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. march — the month
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. march — music
  12. file — a tool
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cap — a lid
  15. plane — a tool
  16. cap — a hat
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. degree — temperature
  19. tube — the underground
  20. file — a line of people
  21. tube — a container
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. file — a document
  24. ball — a great time

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