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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. root — of a plant
  4. present — a gift
  5. root — the cause
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. root — of a word
  8. vault — a safe
  9. degree — from a university
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. firm — steady
  12. present — the time now
  13. firm — decided
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — ground
  17. clip — a video
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. clip — to cut
  20. degree — temperature
  21. clip — for paper
  22. firm — a company
  23. present — there
  24. land — a country

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