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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 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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — temperature
  2. pound — a weight
  3. cell — in biology
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. drill — army training
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. field — for sport
  8. cell — a phone
  9. drill — a practice
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. field — a subject
  12. degree — an amount
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. field — farmland
  16. drill — the tool
  17. degree — from a university
  18. pound — for dogs

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