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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. bulb — for light
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. land — a country
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. degree — from a university
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. degree — temperature
  11. land — to come down
  12. land — ground
  13. prune — to trim
  14. ball — a dance
  15. bulb — for light
  16. pop — to visit
  17. pop — music
  18. prune — to trim
  19. pop — soda
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. bark — to shout
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a line
  24. ball — a great time

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