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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. scale — in music
  3. spell — a short time
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. spell — letters
  6. mate — a partner
  7. degree — temperature
  8. spell — magic
  9. lie — to recline
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — from a university
  12. scale — size or range
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. bat — the animal
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. mate — to breed
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. mate — a friend
  21. branch — a division
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. lie — an untruth

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