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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. mark — a trace
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. swing — to play on
  6. file — a line of people
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. lie — to recline
  9. kid — child
  10. swing — in golf
  11. swing — music
  12. pop — soda
  13. kid — to tease
  14. degree — from a university
  15. file — a tool
  16. game — a match
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — an amount
  19. game — wild animals
  20. pop — music
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. pop — to visit
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. file — a document

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