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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. bound — certain
  7. bound — obliged
  8. dip — to sink
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. degree — an amount
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. game — a match
  13. chest — a box
  14. chest — of your body
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. clip — a video
  17. toast — bread
  18. clip — for paper
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bound — tied together
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. clip — to cut
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — from a university

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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