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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. degree — an amount
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. present — there
  7. degree — from a university
  8. game — wild animals
  9. prune — to trim
  10. hand — in cards
  11. present — a gift
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. degree — temperature
  14. saw — the tool
  15. pass — a permit
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. game — a match
  19. prune — to trim
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. saw — the tool
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. present — the time now

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