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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. degree — an amount
  3. pit — a hole
  4. root — the cause
  5. pit — in a race
  6. net — in sport
  7. spring — of water
  8. degree — temperature
  9. content — the amount
  10. root — of a word
  11. kick — in football
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. mark — a grade
  14. spring — a coil
  15. mark — a trace
  16. spring — the season
  17. content — happy
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. net — for catching
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. root — of a plant
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. net — after costs
  24. content — videos and posts

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