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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. degree — temperature
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. spring — of water
  5. mate — to breed
  6. spell — a short time
  7. march — music
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. degree — an amount
  10. spell — magic
  11. rule — government
  12. spring — a coil
  13. staff — employees
  14. staff — employees
  15. spring — the season
  16. degree — from a university
  17. march — the month
  18. mate — a friend
  19. mate — a partner
  20. staff — a stick
  21. rule — a law
  22. game — a match
  23. game — wild animals
  24. march — the month

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