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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. season — in sport
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. spring — the season
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. mug — to rob
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bark — to shout
  12. season — of the year
  13. rush — hurry
  14. degree — from a university
  15. spring — of water
  16. root — of a plant
  17. mug — a face
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — the fish
  20. degree — temperature
  21. root — the cause
  22. root — of a word
  23. mug — a cup
  24. spring — a coil

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