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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. club — for dancing
  6. tube — the underground
  7. scale — size or range
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. drill — the tool
  11. drill — army training
  12. tube — a container
  13. club — for golf
  14. march — the month
  15. drill — a practice
  16. club — a group
  17. march — music
  18. scale — in music
  19. degree — temperature
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. march — the month
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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