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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. season — in sport
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. face — part of the head
  7. season — of the year
  8. court — for sport
  9. face — to point toward
  10. court — of a king
  11. bore — to drill
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. bass — the fish
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. degree — an amount
  18. bass — low music
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. degree — from a university
  21. face — to confront
  22. court — of law
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. degree — temperature

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