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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 120 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 band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. degree — from a university
  3. game — wild animals
  4. degree — temperature
  5. march — the month
  6. march — the month
  7. cue — a signal
  8. degree — an amount
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. scale — in music
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. scale — size or range
  13. game — a match
  14. tear — from crying
  15. saw — the tool
  16. cue — a hint
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. cue — for pool
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tear — from crying
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. saw — the tool

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