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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. root — the cause
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. spring — the season
  9. club — for golf
  10. club — a group
  11. tube — the underground
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. degree — an amount
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. club — for dancing
  16. tube — a container
  17. row — to paddle
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. row — a line
  23. pass — a permit
  24. root — of a plant

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