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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. bear — the animal
  4. degree — from a university
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. spell — magic
  10. spell — a short time
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. toast — bread
  13. game — wild animals
  14. roll — a cake
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. spell — letters
  18. bear — the animal
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. kid — child
  22. degree — temperature
  23. kid — to tease
  24. roll — a list

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