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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 124 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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  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. mate — a friend
  2. key — the most important part
  3. race — the arms race
  4. race — humankind
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. mate — to breed
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. root — of a word
  13. perch — the fish
  14. degree — from a university
  15. mate — a partner
  16. key — for a lock
  17. root — the cause
  18. degree — temperature
  19. prune — to trim
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. degree — an amount
  22. race — a contest
  23. key — in music
  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