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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.

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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. ground — crushed
  3. swing — in golf
  4. degree — temperature
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. cell — a phone
  7. ground — a position
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — in biology
  10. rush — hurry
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. degree — from a university
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. degree — an amount
  16. kid — child
  17. swing — to play on
  18. ground — the earth
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. swing — music
  21. kid — to tease
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. prune — to trim
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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