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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. degree — temperature
  3. degree — an amount
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — a friend
  10. wake — a trail
  11. cold — not warm
  12. rash — hasty
  13. game — a match
  14. degree — from a university
  15. ball — a dance
  16. cold — an illness
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. ball — a great time
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rash — a series

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