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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. stem — to come from
  3. prune — to trim
  4. file — a tool
  5. rule — a law
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. cue — a signal
  8. file — a line of people
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. prune — to trim
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. pitch — completely
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. cue — a hint
  16. file — a document
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. degree — temperature
  19. degree — an amount
  20. lean — to bend
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. lean — thin
  23. rule — government
  24. cue — for pool

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