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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. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. field — farmland
  3. shower — to wash
  4. bass — low music
  5. court — of law
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. court — for sport
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. degree — temperature
  11. bass — the fish
  12. field — a subject
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. fall — to drop
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. court — of a king
  17. fall — the season
  18. fall — to drop
  19. degree — an amount
  20. suit — clothes
  21. suit — to fit
  22. field — for sport
  23. degree — from a university
  24. shower — rain

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