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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. pop — music
  3. degree — an amount
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. foot — a measure
  9. pop — soda
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. lean — to bend
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bear — the animal
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. cold — an illness
  19. lean — thin
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. degree — temperature
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. pop — to visit

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