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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 116 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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. sharp — clever
  3. drill — a practice
  4. lean — to bend
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. march — the month
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. march — music
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. tube — the underground
  13. drill — the tool
  14. lean — thin
  15. drill — army training
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. degree — temperature
  18. march — the month
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. degree — from a university
  22. tube — a container
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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