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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 116 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. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. lie — to recline
  5. drill — the tool
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. game — wild animals
  8. drill — a practice
  9. bass — the fish
  10. degree — temperature
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. fork — in a road
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. bass — low music
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. drill — army training
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. game — a match
  23. degree — an amount
  24. game — a kind of play

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