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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: degree · leaves · hand · sharp · prune · pop · root · fan

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. root — of a plant
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. prune — to trim
  8. pop — to visit
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. degree — temperature
  11. prune — to trim
  12. pop — soda
  13. sharp — clever
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. pop — music
  16. root — the cause
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. degree — from a university
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. hand — in cards
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. root — of a word
  23. hand — help
  24. fan — a supporter

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