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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. mine — for digging
  3. prune — to trim
  4. degree — temperature
  5. swing — music
  6. swing — to play on
  7. ball — a great time
  8. swing — in golf
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. prune — to trim
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. wind — moving air
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. ball — a dance
  21. degree — an amount
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. wind — moving air

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