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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. root — of a word
  3. degree — temperature
  4. fall — the season
  5. fall — to drop
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. rock — a stone
  8. kick — in football
  9. root — the cause
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. wound — an injury
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. degree — from a university
  14. land — ground
  15. land — to come down
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. root — of a plant
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. fall — to drop
  21. degree — an amount
  22. land — a country
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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