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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: kid · pitcher · arm · cold · roll · prune · root · degree

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. root — of a plant
  4. prune — to trim
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. root — the cause
  10. kid — child
  11. roll — a cake
  12. cold — an illness
  13. degree — temperature
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. degree — an amount
  16. prune — to trim
  17. roll — a list
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. kid — to tease
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. degree — from a university
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. cold — not warm

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