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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. stem — to come from
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. track — a path
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. track — to keep track
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — a practice
  14. degree — from a university
  15. kid — to tease
  16. track — a song
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. degree — temperature
  19. kid — child
  20. drill — army training
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — of water
  24. spring — a coil

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