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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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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: degree · ground · club · lie · root · cell · tear · stick

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. tear — from crying
  4. degree — an amount
  5. ground — the earth
  6. root — of a plant
  7. ground — a position
  8. club — for golf
  9. lie — to recline
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. club — for dancing
  12. degree — from a university
  13. club — a group
  14. root — of a word
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. degree — temperature
  18. root — the cause
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. tear — to rip
  21. cell — a phone
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. ground — crushed
  24. cell — in biology

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