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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. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. degree — from a university
  3. hand — in cards
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. scale — size or range
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. spring — a coil
  8. spring — of water
  9. scale — in music
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. root — the cause
  12. swing — in golf
  13. degree — an amount
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. ground — a position
  16. ground — crushed
  17. hand — help
  18. ground — the earth
  19. degree — temperature
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. root — of a word
  22. spring — the season
  23. swing — to play on
  24. swing — music

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