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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. root — of a word
  6. pop — music
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. pop — soda
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — a video
  14. pitch — completely
  15. root — the cause
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. root — of a plant
  19. clip — to cut
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. mine — for digging
  24. degree — temperature

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