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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. bore — to tire
  3. land — to come down
  4. game — wild animals
  5. land — ground
  6. degree — from a university
  7. game — a match
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. degree — temperature
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. wake — a trail
  13. stock — goods
  14. bore — to drill
  15. tube — the underground
  16. land — a country
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. degree — an amount
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. stock — shares
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. tube — a container
  24. bat — the animal

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