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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. net — after costs
  3. ground — a position
  4. ground — the earth
  5. prune — to trim
  6. mug — a face
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — what's left
  9. march — music
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. march — the month
  13. ground — crushed
  14. mug — to rob
  15. degree — temperature
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. rest — a break
  18. mug — a cup
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. prune — to trim
  21. net — in sport
  22. march — the month
  23. net — for catching
  24. degree — from a university

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