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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. root — of a word
  3. prune — to trim
  4. degree — temperature
  5. stock — goods
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. root — of a plant
  9. net — for catching
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. degree — from a university
  12. net — after costs
  13. stock — shares
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. root — the cause
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. degree — an amount
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. net — in sport
  22. prune — to trim
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. trunk — of a tree

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