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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. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bear — the animal
  3. degree — from a university
  4. bass — low music
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bass — the fish
  7. cell — in biology
  8. snap — to click
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. spring — of water
  12. root — of a word
  13. chip — to eat
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. root — the cause
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. spring — a coil
  19. root — of a plant
  20. spring — the season
  21. bear — the animal
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. cell — a phone
  24. chip — for betting

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