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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. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. drill — a practice
  3. shower — rain
  4. root — of a plant
  5. object — to protest
  6. wind — moving air
  7. object — an aim
  8. degree — from a university
  9. root — the cause
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. shower — to wash
  13. wind — moving air
  14. field — for sport
  15. object — a thing
  16. degree — an amount
  17. field — farmland
  18. key — for a lock
  19. key — in music
  20. key — the most important part
  21. drill — the tool
  22. field — a subject
  23. drill — army training
  24. root — of a word

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