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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. bank — for money
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. rest — what's left
  5. field — farmland
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. land — a country
  9. land — ground
  10. band — a ring
  11. field — a subject
  12. band — a music group
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. land — to come down
  15. bank — of a river
  16. rest — a break
  17. bank — for money
  18. degree — from a university
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. rest — what's left
  22. field — for sport
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. degree — temperature

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