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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · mine · hand · degree · root · chest · cue

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — for digging
  4. pop — to visit
  5. degree — from a university
  6. root — of a plant
  7. root — of a word
  8. cue — a signal
  9. hand — help
  10. degree — an amount
  11. chest — of your body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. mate — a friend
  14. degree — temperature
  15. root — the cause
  16. mate — a partner
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. cue — a hint
  22. pop — music
  23. mate — to breed
  24. cue — for pool

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