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

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. degree — an amount
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. land — ground
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. mug — a face
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. mug — a cup
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. prune — to trim
  12. degree — temperature
  13. pound — a weight
  14. hand — help
  15. mug — to rob
  16. land — a country
  17. scale — size or range
  18. prune — to trim
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. degree — from a university
  21. scale — in music
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — to come from
  24. land — to come down

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