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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. wake — a trail
  3. prune — to trim
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. file — a tool
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. degree — an amount
  9. track — to keep track
  10. degree — from a university
  11. prune — to trim
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. file — a line of people
  16. degree — temperature
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. track — a path
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. track — a song
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. file — a document

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