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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 124 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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. spell — magic
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. face — to confront
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. net — for catching
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. prune — to trim
  10. face — part of the head
  11. face — to point toward
  12. spring — the season
  13. march — music
  14. spell — a short time
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spell — letters
  17. march — the month
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. spring — of water
  21. net — after costs
  22. degree — temperature
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. march — the month

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