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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. tear — from crying
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. degree — from a university
  7. suit — clothes
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. stock — shares
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. suit — to fit
  13. degree — temperature
  14. prune — to trim
  15. suit — in cards
  16. snap — to click
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. stock — goods
  19. tear — to rip
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a match
  22. tear — from crying
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. prune — to trim

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