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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. saw — the tool
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. ground — crushed
  12. degree — an amount
  13. wax — to grow
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. saw — the tool
  18. pound — a weight
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — to trim
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. ground — the earth
  24. mine — for digging

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