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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. degree — temperature
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to click
  5. degree — from a university
  6. march — the month
  7. wound — an injury
  8. march — the month
  9. track — a path
  10. track — a song
  11. stem — to come from
  12. court — of a king
  13. root — of a word
  14. court — for sport
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. wound — an injury
  17. root — of a plant
  18. march — music
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. root — the cause
  22. track — to keep track
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. court — of law

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