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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 116 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. prune — to trim
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. kid — child
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pop — soda
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — an amount
  9. pop — music
  10. prune — to trim
  11. wound — an injury
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. kid — to tease
  14. current — happening now
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. degree — temperature
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. chip — to eat
  19. chip — for betting
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. current — electric
  23. current — of water
  24. cabinet — ministers

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