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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. swing — to play on
  3. root — of a word
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. swing — music
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. degree — an amount
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. ball — a great time
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. degree — from a university
  14. root — the cause
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. ball — a dance
  18. swing — in golf
  19. root — of a plant
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. chest — a box
  24. degree — temperature

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