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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mate · pop · firm · hand · field · dip · prune · degree

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. pop — to visit
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. field — farmland
  5. mate — to breed
  6. prune — to trim
  7. mate — a friend
  8. degree — an amount
  9. dip — to sink
  10. degree — from a university
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. pop — music
  15. firm — a company
  16. mate — a partner
  17. pop — soda
  18. field — for sport
  19. degree — temperature
  20. firm — steady
  21. firm — decided
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. dip — to dunk

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