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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bass — the fish
  3. squash — to crush
  4. degree — from a university
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. field — farmland
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — for sport
  12. degree — temperature
  13. squash — the sport
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. track — a path
  16. degree — an amount
  17. bass — low music
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. track — to keep track
  22. track — a song
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. date — the fruit

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