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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 120 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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. prune — to trim
  5. scale — in music
  6. degree — temperature
  7. tear — from crying
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. tear — from crying
  12. ground — crushed
  13. ground — a position
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. scale — size or range
  17. deal — to handle
  18. degree — an amount
  19. ground — the earth
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. dip — to sink
  22. sharp — clever
  23. tear — to rip
  24. degree — from a university

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