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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: cold · degree · ball · sharp · scale · ruler · mouse · bass

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. cold — not warm
  7. scale — in music
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. ball — a dance
  12. bass — the fish
  13. cold — an illness
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. degree — from a university
  19. scale — size or range
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. sharp — clever
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. bass — low music
  24. cold — the Cold War

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