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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cell — a phone
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — the fruit
  7. cell — in biology
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. board — a committee
  10. field — farmland
  11. drill — army training
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — for sport
  17. drill — the tool
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. degree — from a university
  20. drill — a practice
  21. chest — of your body
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. chest — a box
  24. board — to get on

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