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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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. drill — a practice
  3. cold — an illness
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. degree — temperature
  7. rest — what's left
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. bulb — for light
  10. kid — child
  11. degree — an amount
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. drill — army training
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. rest — what's left
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. bulb — for light
  19. drill — the tool
  20. cold — not warm
  21. degree — from a university
  22. kid — to tease
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. stand — to bear

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