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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. field — a subject
  3. rush — hurry
  4. bass — the fish
  5. bass — low music
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. mate — a friend
  8. degree — temperature
  9. field — farmland
  10. shower — rain
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. degree — an amount
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. field — for sport
  18. mate — to breed
  19. shower — to wash
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. rock — music
  23. degree — from a university
  24. rock — a stone

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