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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. degree — an amount
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. root — of a word
  7. mate — to breed
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. root — of a plant
  11. degree — from a university
  12. squash — to crush
  13. root — the cause
  14. saw — the tool
  15. degree — temperature
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. mate — a partner
  18. spring — the season
  19. squash — the sport
  20. spring — of water
  21. mate — a friend
  22. spring — a coil
  23. saw — the tool
  24. bass — the fish

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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