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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 120 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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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. cue — a signal
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. net — in sport
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cue — a hint
  7. key — in music
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. hand — in cards
  11. net — for catching
  12. key — for a lock
  13. key — the most important part
  14. prune — to trim
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. hand — help
  18. degree — an amount
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wind — moving air
  21. net — after costs
  22. cue — for pool
  23. hand — part of the body
  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