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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 120 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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. degree — an amount
  3. prune — to trim
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. degree — temperature
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. squash — to crush
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. lean — to bend
  16. degree — from a university
  17. squash — the sport
  18. prune — to trim
  19. lean — thin
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. cold — an illness
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. snap — to click

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