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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. rush — hurry
  3. spell — letters
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — in sport
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. degree — from a university
  13. drill — the tool
  14. last — final
  15. degree — temperature
  16. spell — magic
  17. last — finally
  18. last — to go on
  19. net — for catching
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. spell — a short time
  22. drill — army training
  23. drill — a practice
  24. lash — to lash out

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