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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 116 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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. saw — the tool
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — a friend
  8. kick — in football
  9. ground — crushed
  10. cold — not warm
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. ground — the earth
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. saw — the tool
  16. cold — an illness
  17. degree — an amount
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. ground — a position
  20. object — an aim
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — to trim
  23. mate — to breed
  24. object — a thing

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