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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  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. bass — low music
  2. stem — to come from
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. pop — music
  5. lean — to bend
  6. scale — in music
  7. race — a contest
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. bass — the fish
  15. scale — size or range
  16. race — the arms race
  17. degree — an amount
  18. race — humankind
  19. degree — from a university
  20. lean — thin
  21. pop — to visit
  22. pop — soda
  23. stem — a stem cell
  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