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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. spring — the season
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. root — the cause
  5. fine — high quality
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. pop — soda
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. degree — temperature
  10. bat — the animal
  11. pop — music
  12. wound — an injury
  13. key — for a lock
  14. wound — an injury
  15. root — of a word
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. degree — from a university
  18. key — in music
  19. degree — an amount
  20. root — of a plant
  21. spring — of water
  22. pop — to visit
  23. key — the most important part
  24. spring — a coil

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