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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. fine — high quality
  4. can — a tin
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cold — not warm
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. mine — for digging
  9. kid — to tease
  10. degree — an amount
  11. fine — all right
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. can — a tin
  16. pitch — completely
  17. cold — an illness
  18. degree — from a university
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. stem — to come from
  22. can — to be able to
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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