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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. pit — a hole
  4. prune — to trim
  5. net — for catching
  6. mug — a cup
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. net — in sport
  10. degree — from a university
  11. mug — a face
  12. wind — moving air
  13. net — after costs
  14. prune — to trim
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — to come from
  17. mug — to rob
  18. degree — an amount
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. prune — the fruit

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