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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. degree — an amount
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cell — in biology
  7. degree — from a university
  8. saw — the tool
  9. object — a thing
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. shower — rain
  12. root — of a word
  13. shower — to wash
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. chair — a leader
  18. root — of a plant
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. prune — to trim
  21. saw — the tool
  22. object — to protest
  23. object — an aim
  24. root — the cause

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