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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. bass — the fish
  3. game — wild animals
  4. cap — a hat
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — crushed
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — an amount
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. field — for sport
  11. bass — low music
  12. shower — rain
  13. ground — the earth
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. field — farmland
  16. shower — to wash
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. game — a match
  19. degree — from a university
  20. field — a subject
  21. cap — of ice
  22. root — of a word
  23. root — of a plant
  24. cap — a lid

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