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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. ball — a great time
  3. drill — a practice
  4. face — part of the head
  5. drill — army training
  6. degree — an amount
  7. degree — from a university
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — a coil
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. pop — soda
  12. spring — the season
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. ball — a dance
  15. pop — to visit
  16. face — to point toward
  17. branch — a division
  18. root — the cause
  19. pop — music
  20. root — of a word
  21. degree — temperature
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. root — of a plant
  24. face — to confront

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