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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. degree — from a university
  3. prune — to trim
  4. present — a gift
  5. stem — to come from
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wind — moving air
  11. track — to keep track
  12. track — a song
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — temperature
  16. wind — moving air
  17. sharp — clever
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. wound — an injury
  20. present — the time now
  21. track — a path
  22. prune — to trim
  23. present — there
  24. prune — the fruit

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