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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. prune — to trim
  3. spring — the season
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. game — wild animals
  6. spring — of water
  7. bass — low music
  8. key — for a lock
  9. kick — in football
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. key — in music
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. spring — a coil
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. degree — an amount
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bass — the fish
  21. key — the most important part
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. prune — to trim
  24. game — a match

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