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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. degree — from a university
  3. degree — temperature
  4. dip — to sink
  5. prune — to trim
  6. court — for sport
  7. prune — to trim
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. chest — of your body
  11. can — a tin
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. land — to come down
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. chest — of your body
  17. degree — an amount
  18. land — a country
  19. court — of law
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. can — a tin
  22. chest — a box
  23. land — ground
  24. court — of a king

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