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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. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. prune — to trim
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bulb — for light
  6. wind — moving air
  7. chest — a box
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. degree — temperature
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bulb — for light
  14. spring — a coil
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. spring — the season
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. degree — an amount
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. spring — of water

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