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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. root — of a word
  3. track — to keep track
  4. degree — temperature
  5. tear — to rip
  6. track — a path
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. squash — the sport
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. tear — from crying
  11. track — a song
  12. season — of the year
  13. degree — an amount
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. plane — a tool
  16. squash — to crush
  17. season — in sport
  18. degree — from a university
  19. root — the cause
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. tear — from crying
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. root — of a plant

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