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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. degree — temperature
  3. firm — steady
  4. spring — the season
  5. field — for sport
  6. firm — a company
  7. field — a subject
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. spring — of water
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. fork — in a road
  13. content — happy
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. firm — decided
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. degree — from a university
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. content — the amount
  20. wake — a trail
  21. board — to get on
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. degree — an amount
  24. spring — a coil

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