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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. squash — the sport
  3. rock — a stone
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bass — low music
  8. bore — to drill
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. rock — music
  11. bass — the fish
  12. cold — an illness
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. bore — to tire
  15. scale — size or range
  16. cold — not warm
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. degree — temperature
  19. squash — to crush
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. scale — in music

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