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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. prune — to trim
  3. game — a match
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. degree — an amount
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. stock — goods
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bulb — for light
  14. last — final
  15. game — wild animals
  16. prune — to trim
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. bulb — for light
  21. last — finally
  22. stock — shares
  23. hand — help
  24. last — to go on

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