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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. degree — an amount
  5. fine — high quality
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. sharp — clever
  9. prune — to trim
  10. cell — a phone
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. field — for sport
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. field — farmland
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. fine — all right
  21. degree — temperature
  22. field — a subject
  23. prune — to trim
  24. degree — from a university

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