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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. cap — a hat
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rash — hasty
  6. scale — size or range
  7. key — the most important part
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. rash — a series
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. key — for a lock
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cap — a lid
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — to tease
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. cap — of ice
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — the animal
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. scale — in music
  23. key — in music
  24. degree — an amount

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