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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: staff · prune · game · sharp · land · degree · fine · mate

  1. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. fine — all right
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. mate — a partner
  5. staff — employees
  6. game — wild animals
  7. sharp — clever
  8. prune — to trim
  9. staff — a stick
  10. degree — temperature
  11. land — to come down
  12. mate — to breed
  13. prune — to trim
  14. game — a match
  15. land — ground
  16. mate — a friend
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. degree — from a university
  20. staff — employees
  21. land — a country
  22. degree — an amount
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. sharp — exactly

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