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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. root — of a plant
  3. degree — from a university
  4. last — to go on
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. degree — an amount
  7. last — finally
  8. degree — temperature
  9. mark — a trace
  10. root — the cause
  11. hand — help
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. mark — a grade
  14. last — final
  15. hand — in cards
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. mine — for digging
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. root — of a word
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. snap — to click

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