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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. drill — a practice
  3. mark — a trace
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. degree — an amount
  6. stem — to come from
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cue — a hint
  9. cue — a signal
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. march — the month
  12. cue — for pool
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. drill — the tool
  17. mark — a grade
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. march — music
  20. mine — for digging
  21. degree — temperature
  22. prune — to trim
  23. drill — army training
  24. march — the month

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