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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. root — of a word
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. root — the cause
  6. cell — a phone
  7. degree — temperature
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. degree — an amount
  10. kid — child
  11. mate — a partner
  12. cell — in biology
  13. mate — a friend
  14. wound — an injury
  15. root — of a plant
  16. kid — to tease
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. stand — to bear
  20. pound — a weight
  21. wound — an injury
  22. mate — to breed
  23. degree — from a university
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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