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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — temperature
  4. kick — in football
  5. current — of water
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. current — happening now
  8. tube — the underground
  9. root — of a word
  10. root — the cause
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. current — electric
  13. tube — a container
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. squash — to crush
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. wound — an injury
  18. squash — the sport
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. perch — the fish
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. root — of a plant

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