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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. prune — to trim
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. pop — music
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. pop — to visit
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wound — an injury
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. wake — a trail
  20. scale — in music
  21. degree — temperature
  22. pop — soda
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. wound — an injury

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