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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. degree — an amount
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. drill — a practice
  6. pop — to visit
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pop — soda
  9. drill — the tool
  10. degree — from a university
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. march — the month
  13. drill — army training
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. march — the month
  16. squash — the sport
  17. squash — to crush
  18. lie — to recline
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. pop — music
  21. march — music
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. degree — temperature

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