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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. field — farmland
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. snap — to click
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. kid — child
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. root — the cause
  13. degree — temperature
  14. root — of a word
  15. kid — to tease
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. root — of a plant
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. degree — an amount
  22. field — a subject
  23. field — for sport
  24. mouse — for a computer

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