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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. degree — an amount
  3. degree — from a university
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a line of people
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. firm — steady
  10. firm — decided
  11. file — a tool
  12. band — a ring
  13. stem — to come from
  14. degree — temperature
  15. prune — to trim
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. firm — a company
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. band — a music group
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. perch — the fish

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