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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. pop — music
  3. bore — to tire
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pop — to visit
  7. sharp — clever
  8. net — in sport
  9. degree — from a university
  10. race — a contest
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. net — after costs
  13. net — for catching
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bore — to drill
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. pop — soda
  18. race — humankind
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. race — the arms race
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. degree — an amount

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