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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. chest — a box
  3. degree — from a university
  4. chest — of your body
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. root — the cause
  7. fork — in a road
  8. spring — of water
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. squash — to crush
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. root — of a word
  13. fall — to drop
  14. prune — to trim
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. squash — the sport
  17. prune — to trim
  18. spring — a coil
  19. spring — the season
  20. root — of a plant
  21. fall — to drop
  22. chest — of your body
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — an amount

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