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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. degree — an amount
  3. march — the month
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. march — the month
  8. march — music
  9. rash — a series
  10. game — a match
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bore — to tire
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. rash — hasty
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. game — wild animals
  19. bass — low music
  20. degree — from a university
  21. chip — for betting
  22. bore — to drill
  23. chip — to eat
  24. chip — in a computer

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