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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. cold — an illness
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. drill — army training
  5. drill — a practice
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rock — a stone
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. deal — to handle
  11. club — for dancing
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. degree — an amount
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. degree — temperature
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. drill — the tool
  18. cell — a phone
  19. club — a group
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. degree — from a university
  23. cell — in biology
  24. club — for golf

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