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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. degree — an amount
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. march — the month
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pop — soda
  8. march — music
  9. pop — to visit
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. snap — to click
  13. bass — low music
  14. root — of a plant
  15. ground — the earth
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. degree — temperature
  18. ground — a position
  19. bass — the fish
  20. root — of a word
  21. march — the month
  22. pop — music
  23. saw — the tool
  24. root — the cause

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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