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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.

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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 · chair · bowl · deal · snap · spell · prune · squash

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. degree — temperature
  3. prune — to trim
  4. deal — to handle
  5. squash — the sport
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. snap — to click
  12. prune — to trim
  13. squash — to crush
  14. spell — a short time
  15. spell — letters
  16. chair — a leader
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. spell — magic
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. degree — from a university
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. degree — an amount

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