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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. march — the month
  3. land — ground
  4. degree — temperature
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. can — to be able to
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. degree — an amount
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — the tool
  12. degree — from a university
  13. land — to come down
  14. spring — the season
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. dip — to sink
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. can — a tin
  19. march — the month
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. rash — a series
  22. land — a country
  23. march — music
  24. can — a tin

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