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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. row — to paddle
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rock — a stone
  6. root — of a plant
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. kid — child
  9. degree — temperature
  10. pop — to visit
  11. rush — hurry
  12. kid — to tease
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. net — for catching
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. degree — an amount
  18. row — a line
  19. pop — music
  20. pop — soda
  21. root — of a word
  22. net — after costs
  23. root — the cause
  24. net — in sport

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