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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. saw — the tool
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. key — for a lock
  7. degree — an amount
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bass — the fish
  10. degree — temperature
  11. key — the most important part
  12. wind — moving air
  13. pit — in a race
  14. pit — a hole
  15. key — in music
  16. wind — moving air
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. game — wild animals
  19. bear — the animal
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bass — low music
  23. game — a match
  24. saw — the tool

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