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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 120 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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. rock — a stone
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. field — farmland
  5. spell — a short time
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. perch — the fish
  9. degree — from a university
  10. spell — letters
  11. degree — temperature
  12. field — a subject
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. shower — rain
  17. stock — shares
  18. shower — to wash
  19. rock — music
  20. spell — magic
  21. stock — goods
  22. degree — an amount
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. dip — to sink

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