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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — farmland
  4. degree — an amount
  5. root — of a plant
  6. root — of a word
  7. root — the cause
  8. squash — to crush
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. rush — hurry
  11. squash — the sport
  12. perch — the fish
  13. field — a subject
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. saw — the tool
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. saw — the tool
  18. wake — a trail
  19. degree — from a university
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. rush — a thrill

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