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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pop — soda
  4. degree — temperature
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — to drop
  8. net — after costs
  9. pop — to visit
  10. fall — the season
  11. prune — to trim
  12. drill — the tool
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. bass — the fish
  15. bass — low music
  16. drill — a practice
  17. rule — a law
  18. drill — army training
  19. rule — government
  20. pop — music
  21. net — in sport
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bass — the instrument

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