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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — a stone
  2. mate — a partner
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — magic
  5. march — the month
  6. mate — a friend
  7. march — music
  8. ball — a great time
  9. degree — an amount
  10. craft — a skill
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. craft — boats
  15. tear — to rip
  16. degree — temperature
  17. tear — from crying
  18. ball — a dance
  19. tear — from crying
  20. mate — to breed
  21. degree — from a university
  22. spell — a short time
  23. march — the month
  24. rock — music

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