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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. season — in sport
  4. degree — an amount
  5. degree — temperature
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. degree — from a university
  8. hand — in cards
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. drill — the tool
  11. hand — help
  12. root — of a word
  13. branch — a division
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. drill — army training
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. root — the cause
  20. game — a match
  21. game — wild animals
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. drill — a practice
  24. root — of a plant

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