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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. degree — an amount
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. game — a match
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. tear — from crying
  8. degree — temperature
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. pop — soda
  11. present — a gift
  12. pop — to visit
  13. game — wild animals
  14. shower — rain
  15. tear — from crying
  16. shower — to wash
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. pop — music
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — there
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. tear — to rip
  24. degree — from a university

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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