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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. track — a song
  3. bass — the fish
  4. scale — in music
  5. track — a path
  6. mate — a partner
  7. rule — government
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. mate — a friend
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. rule — a law
  13. kid — child
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. scale — size or range
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mate — to breed
  19. degree — from a university
  20. bass — low music
  21. track — to keep track
  22. degree — an amount
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. wake — a trail

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