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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 120 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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. stem — to come from
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. degree — from a university
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. prune — to trim
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. fork — in a road
  16. degree — temperature
  17. mate — to breed
  18. mate — a friend
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. prune — to trim
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. mate — a partner

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