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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. spring — the season
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. snap — to click
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. stem — to come from
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. kick — in football
  10. spring — a coil
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. spring — of water
  15. stock — shares
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. stock — goods
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. degree — temperature
  21. row — to paddle
  22. row — a line
  23. degree — from a university
  24. row — a quarrel

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