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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. sharp — clever
  3. kick — in football
  4. root — of a word
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. root — of a plant
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. degree — an amount
  12. root — the cause
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. degree — from a university
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. march — the month
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. march — the month
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. march — music

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