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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 116 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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. ground — a position
  4. spell — letters
  5. bank — for money
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. bank — of a river
  10. club — a group
  11. ground — crushed
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — temperature
  14. spell — magic
  15. club — for dancing
  16. spell — a short time
  17. wake — a trail
  18. stem — to come from
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. ground — the earth
  21. bank — for money
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. club — for golf

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