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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. mate — a partner
  4. band — a music group
  5. race — the arms race
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. pop — to visit
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. pop — soda
  10. root — of a plant
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — an amount
  13. root — the cause
  14. degree — temperature
  15. mark — a grade
  16. mate — to breed
  17. mark — a trace
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. race — a contest
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. pop — music
  22. race — humankind
  23. band — a ring
  24. root — of a word

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