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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. rock — music
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. field — farmland
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. field — a subject
  11. pitch — completely
  12. rock — a stone
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. field — for sport
  15. degree — an amount
  16. degree — from a university
  17. court — of law
  18. pitch — a sales talk

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