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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. root — of a plant
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. wound — an injury
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bass — low music
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. club — for dancing
  10. club — for golf
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. degree — from a university
  13. deal — to handle
  14. club — a group
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. bass — the fish
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. wound — an injury
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a document
  22. root — the cause
  23. root — of a word
  24. file — a tool

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