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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. lean — thin
  3. prune — to trim
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. court — of law
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. lean — to bend
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — from a university
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. court — of a king
  16. court — for sport
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. saw — the tool
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. prune — to trim
  21. saw — the tool
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. degree — an amount

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