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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — the fish
  4. root — of a plant
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. bass — low music
  7. chest — a box
  8. degree — temperature
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. spring — the season
  11. pitch — completely
  12. degree — from a university
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. chair — a leader
  15. bulb — for light
  16. root — the cause
  17. chest — of your body
  18. root — of a word
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. spring — of water
  21. chest — of your body
  22. spring — a coil
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. bulb — for light

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