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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. last — final
  6. degree — temperature
  7. root — of a plant
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mug — a cup
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. stem — to come from
  12. sharp — clever
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. mug — a face
  15. last — finally
  16. degree — from a university
  17. mug — to rob
  18. last — to go on
  19. degree — an amount
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. root — of a word
  22. root — the cause
  23. bat — the animal
  24. sharp — with an edge

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