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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. last — final
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. last — finally
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. rush — hurry
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. saw — the tool
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. saw — the tool
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. kick — in football
  19. spell — a short time
  20. last — to go on
  21. degree — from a university
  22. spell — magic
  23. degree — an amount
  24. spell — letters

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