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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mark · degree · suit · march · pop · kid · spell · roll

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. pop — music
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. march — the month
  6. kid — to tease
  7. roll — a cake
  8. suit — in cards
  9. march — the month
  10. mark — a trace
  11. spell — letters
  12. suit — to fit
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. degree — an amount
  15. mark — a grade
  16. degree — temperature
  17. pop — to visit
  18. spell — a short time
  19. kid — child
  20. spell — magic
  21. degree — from a university
  22. march — music
  23. roll — a list
  24. suit — clothes

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