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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — the animal
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. degree — an amount
  7. key — in music
  8. present — the time now
  9. key — the most important part
  10. scale — in music
  11. wake — a trail
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. degree — from a university
  14. saw — the tool
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. degree — temperature
  17. present — there
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. key — for a lock
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. saw — the tool

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