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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. saw — the tool
  3. spring — of water
  4. degree — temperature
  5. chip — to eat
  6. prune — to trim
  7. tear — to rip
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. degree — from a university
  10. degree — an amount
  11. chip — for betting
  12. prune — to trim
  13. saw — the tool
  14. pound — a weight
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. spring — the season
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — from crying
  23. spring — a coil
  24. chip — in a computer

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