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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. 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. racket — for tennis
  2. degree — an amount
  3. bound — certain
  4. pitch — completely
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. bound — tied together
  8. scale — size or range
  9. shower — to wash
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. degree — from a university
  15. field — for sport
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. field — a subject
  18. shower — rain
  19. scale — in music
  20. degree — temperature
  21. field — farmland
  22. bound — obliged
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. 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