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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. wake — a trail
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. mug — a face
  6. bat — the animal
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. degree — temperature
  9. pound — a weight
  10. mug — a cup
  11. stem — to come from
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. swing — to play on
  14. mug — to rob
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. cue — a signal
  18. cue — for pool
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. degree — from a university
  21. cue — a hint
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — music
  24. stem — of a plant

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