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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. degree — from a university
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. drill — the tool
  5. rush — hurry
  6. last — finally
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. degree — temperature
  9. fall — to drop
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. fall — the season
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. drill — army training
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bass — the fish
  18. last — to go on
  19. kid — to tease
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. bass — low music
  22. drill — a practice
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. kid — child

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