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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. prune — to trim
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. face — part of the head
  11. drill — army training
  12. snap — to click
  13. drill — a practice
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. pound — a weight
  17. drill — the tool
  18. lie — to recline
  19. degree — temperature
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. face — to confront
  22. degree — from a university
  23. face — to point toward
  24. prune — to trim

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