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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  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. lean — to bend
  2. degree — from a university
  3. squash — to crush
  4. degree — an amount
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. staff — a stick
  8. lean — thin
  9. root — the cause
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. wind — moving air
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. staff — employees
  15. root — of a word
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. degree — temperature
  19. squash — the sport
  20. staff — employees
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bat — the animal
  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