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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. degree — temperature
  4. chair — a leader
  5. degree — from a university
  6. ball — a great time
  7. ball — a dance
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. root — of a plant
  12. track — to keep track
  13. bear — the animal
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. track — a song
  16. root — of a word
  17. bear — the animal
  18. shower — to wash
  19. root — the cause
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. degree — an amount
  24. ball — a round shape

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