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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 120 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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. stem — to come from
  8. pop — to visit
  9. degree — from a university
  10. pop — soda
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. row — to paddle
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pitch — completely
  15. ball — a great time
  16. key — for a lock
  17. key — the most important part
  18. degree — temperature
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. degree — an amount
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. ball — a dance
  23. pop — music
  24. row — a line

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