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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. cold — not warm
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. key — the most important part
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. staff — employees
  7. staff — employees
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. key — for a lock
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. key — in music
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. prune — to trim
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bat — the animal
  16. prune — to trim
  17. staff — a stick
  18. degree — temperature
  19. foot — a measure
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. degree — from a university
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. cold — an illness

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