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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. land — to come down
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. spring — of water
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. rock — a stone
  8. squash — the sport
  9. land — ground
  10. spring — the season
  11. degree — from a university
  12. land — a country
  13. squash — to crush
  14. bore — to drill
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. spring — a coil
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. bore — to tire
  21. rock — music
  22. degree — temperature
  23. pitch — completely
  24. pitch — a sports field

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