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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. fine — all right
  3. field — for sport
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. pitch — completely
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. object — a thing
  8. face — to confront
  9. wind — moving air
  10. object — to protest
  11. face — part of the head
  12. wind — moving air
  13. fine — high quality
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. object — an aim
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. face — to point toward
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. degree — an amount
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. field — a subject
  23. degree — temperature
  24. field — farmland

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