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

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. field — farmland
  3. degree — temperature
  4. key — the most important part
  5. field — for sport
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. key — in music
  10. chest — of your body
  11. field — a subject
  12. band — a ring
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. band — a music group
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. net — in sport
  17. bass — low music
  18. net — for catching
  19. degree — from a university
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. key — for a lock
  23. bass — the fish
  24. net — after costs

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