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

Word bank: mate · bay · degree · pop · mine · rule · deal · kid

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. rule — government
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. pop — soda
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. degree — an amount
  8. rule — a law
  9. kid — to tease
  10. mate — a friend
  11. pop — music
  12. mate — to breed
  13. deal — to handle
  14. degree — from a university
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. kid — child
  21. degree — temperature
  22. pop — to visit
  23. mine — for digging
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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