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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. drill — a practice
  3. ground — a position
  4. band — a music group
  5. bore — to drill
  6. court — for sport
  7. drill — army training
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. ground — crushed
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. drill — the tool
  12. cap — a hat
  13. rush — hurry
  14. bore — to tire
  15. degree — from a university
  16. court — of law
  17. cap — a lid
  18. court — of a king
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cap — of ice
  23. band — a ring
  24. ground — the earth

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