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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. saw — the tool
  3. hand — in cards
  4. saw — the tool
  5. track — a song
  6. degree — an amount
  7. track — a path
  8. degree — temperature
  9. hand — help
  10. ground — crushed
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. track — to keep track
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — to trim
  15. can — to be able to
  16. squash — the sport
  17. squash — to crush
  18. ground — the earth
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. can — a tin
  22. can — a tin
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. degree — from a university

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