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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. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. root — of a plant
  3. lean — to bend
  4. root — of a word
  5. club — for golf
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. degree — from a university
  9. lean — thin
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. spring — of water
  12. club — a group
  13. degree — temperature
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. game — wild animals
  17. spring — a coil
  18. game — a match
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. root — the cause
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. club — for dancing
  23. spring — the season
  24. pitcher — a jug

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