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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — the earth
  3. degree — from a university
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. degree — an amount
  6. cell — a phone
  7. stem — to come from
  8. mate — a friend
  9. kid — to tease
  10. ground — a position
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. degree — temperature
  13. kid — child
  14. root — of a plant
  15. mate — a partner
  16. cell — in biology
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. root — of a word
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. mate — to breed
  21. root — the cause
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — clever
  24. sharp — exactly

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