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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  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. roll — a cake
  2. scale — size or range
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. degree — from a university
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. scale — in music
  8. degree — an amount
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. degree — temperature
  11. cell — a phone
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. roll — a list
  14. fork — in a road
  15. cell — in biology
  16. march — the month
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. march — music
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. roll — on a roll
  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