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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. root — of a word
  3. lean — to bend
  4. root — the cause
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. game — wild animals
  7. degree — an amount
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. stock — shares
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. stem — to come from
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. scale — in music
  16. degree — temperature
  17. root — of a plant
  18. stock — goods
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. game — a match
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. lean — thin
  23. degree — from a university
  24. stem — 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