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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. degree — from a university
  4. lie — to recline
  5. spell — magic
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — to trim
  9. spell — a short time
  10. craft — a skill
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. degree — temperature
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. craft — boats
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. march — the month
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. march — music
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. march — the month
  22. spell — letters
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. patient — a sick person

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