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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. land — to come down
  3. row — a line
  4. land — ground
  5. degree — temperature
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. stem — to come from
  10. wind — moving air
  11. mate — to breed
  12. land — a country
  13. mate — a friend
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. mate — a partner
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. bulb — for light
  19. row — to paddle
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. bulb — for light
  24. degree — from a university

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